Secrets of the Portal Keepers
by JazzQuirk
Summary: The YYH gang is going back for another try at the Dark Tournament. Kurama asks her to be their fifth member. But who's using who here?...View full summary inside [New edited version up]
1. Chapter 1: Decisions

**This story is based mainly off the anime.**

**_WARNING_**: This story contains spoilers, bad language, and adult (sexual) situations. Mature audience please.

**_DISCLAIMER_**: I do not own any of the Yu Yu Hakusho characters or any concepts belonging to the series and creator. I do own my original characters and story.

**Summary**: The gang goes back for round two of the Dark Tournament, as is required of the reigning champions. Genkai has refused the invitation to accompany them. Kurama pulls through with a new, unknown friend to fill the spot of their fifth member. But as the tournament progresses, things take a trip on the dark side, and the Urameshi team fighters find themselves caught in the midst of it.

* * *

**Secrets of the Portal Keepers**

**Chapter 1**

"**Decisions"**

_by: Katroom

* * *

_

Kurama walked casually down the park path, shifting his suitcase-like school bag to his other hand. It was a warm autumn day and he was a little uncomfortable in his red school uniform. Only one more year of the attire and then he'd be done with high school, preparing to take the entrance exams at Tokyo-U. He wasn't worried about getting in, as he still ranked top in his class, but his mother did, so he continued to study hard to make the older woman happy, even if he didn't need it.

That topic was far from important right now. Today he was meeting with his friends to talk about the recent events in demon society. In other words, the beginning of a second Dark Tournament. The invite had come to him via imp during the middle of the night. Kurama had been less than pleased and glared threateningly at the small demon as he relayed the message, running off as soon as his job was done. Too tired to really care about it then, he had gone back to bed. Next day Yusuke called him to set up the meeting he was heading to now.

He spotted his friends up ahead sitting on a park bench, indulged in what seemed to be a light conversation. Kurama smiled at seeing Hiei actually talking and not just making noises as a response. The two stopped when they caught sight of the lone fox demon strolling towards them. The former spirit detective waved enthusiastically, calling out an "Oi!" in greeting. Kurama lifted his hand to wave back.

The former Spirit Detective, while still in his teens, had grown taller. His shoulders were broader, muscles and physique more defined. His training with Raizen had helped to sculpt him into a distinguished fighter. He still wore the green jumpsuit from his earlier years when attending school (much to Keiko's dislike) and his hair was still in its greased back style. Keiko had convinced him to finish his schooling after his return from the Makai. Yusuke reluctantly complied with the girls wishes having to start again a year behind all his former classmates.

As for Hiei – he was still short and fierce. But at least his wardrobe didn't consist of only black anymore. At the moment, he was wearing his customary black pants and a uniform cloak to show his rank. Kurama sometimes found himself wondering if the fire demon was actually getting taller. It was probably from his own training with the Demon Lord Mukuro. At least he didn't have the urge to take the Ningenkai over anymore.

Kurama finally stopped before the pair.

"Hey Kurama, long time no see," Yusuke greeted.

"Indeed," Kurama nodded towards his long time friend. "Hiei."

"Kurama."

"Where's Kuwabara?"

Yusuke ran his fingers thought his greased hair. "Who knows? He was supposed to come here with me after school, but something came up and he had to run home first."

"I see."

The three caught up with each other while they waited for their fourth companion. The four fighters didn't hang out quite as much as they use to. Granted they still made arrangements to get together at Genkai's or someplace every once in a while, but priorities and distances made the task a bit more of a hassle. Regardless of how much they hung out, they would forever be faithful friends and trusted allies.

Finally they spotted Kuwabara, madly dashing up the path Kurama had just previously traveled. By the time he'd reached them he was already winded, body shuddering from the force of his gasps. "Sorry I'm late guys. I forgot I had to take Eikichi to the vet."

"You still have that cat?" Yusuke teased. "I was sure it would have killed itself by now, living with you and all."

"Watch it Urameshi! I can still beat you to a pulp!"

"Is that a threat?"

Kurama and Hiei watched as the two squared-off in a stare down.

Yusuke pulled away and leaned back against the bench. "Kuwabara, if you want a fight, we'll do it at school. But right now we have more important things to talk about."

Kuwabara crossed his arms in front of his chest and stuck his nose in the air. "Hm. Yeah whatever."

Suddenly Yusuke took on a much more serious demeanor as he eyed each of his companions. They were waiting for him to say something, assuming him to take over the role as leader like he had in the past. Taking a deep breath, he asked the question that had brought them here in the first place. "So…are we gonna go?"

There was a moment of silence as everyone considered their options. After the first Dark Tournament, they were sure there wouldn't be another one. Not only had both stadiums been destroyed, but almost the entire Black Black club had been killed off. Plus, there was the Makai Tournament. What was the point of having another tournament?

Well someone had done it. And as the reigning champs, they were required to go back and participate. Actually, they weren't really "required" to do anything, seeing as there was nothing they could do to force them to (the messengers barely had enough courage to come and ask). They'd all come a long way since then. Everyone was stronger, smarter, and more experienced. So if they were going to go, they would of their own free will, and no one would tell them otherwise.

Kuwabara was the first to voice his opinion. "I think we should go. These punks need to know who they're dealing with." Another pause.

"We do have a reputation to keep," Kurama said. The thought of fighting together was quite appealing.

"Hiei," Yusuke turned to his more distant friend.

The fire demon shrugged, "I'm sure Mukuro would give me some time off."

"Great, now that that's settled, what are we going to do about a fifth member?" Yusuke moved forward, placing his elbows on his knees. "We know Genkai isn't going to do it. She's too old to be fighting."

"Who do we know that's willing to fight with us?" Kuwabara crossed his arm and rested his chin in his hand. There was a break in the conversation.

"Hey Kuwabara," Yusuke had one of those looks on his face, "why don't you ask your sister? She's pretty tough."

"What? No way! She'd scare away everyone before we'd even get to fight them."

Kurama tried not to laugh. "He has a point."

They all stood there for a moment brainstorming on people they knew. A couple ideas were mentioned, but quickly shot down. Every time they came up with a candidate, some reason besides their fighting ability was mentioned, eliminating that person.

Finally Yusuke let out a frustrated sigh. "Kami! Don't we know anybody?"

Kurama picked his school bag up off the ground. "Perhaps it would be better if we thought about this on our own time."

"In a rush to get away from us?" Yusuke teased.

"No, nothing like that. I just have some errands to run for my mother."

Hiei scoffed, "Still weak." He was already up and getting ready to leave.

Yusuke got up as well and stretched. "Ah, I guess your right. No point in just sittin' here if we can't think of anyone. Besides, if Keiko finds me she's going to drag me back to detention." Yusuke picked his own suitcase up off the ground. "Call me if you get any ideas." They said their good-byes and parted.

* * *

Kurama made his way into town for the groceries his mother had asked him to buy for dinner while he was out. He continued to think about the Dark Tournament and fighting as a team again. The practice would be good for him and give him time to unwind before the school year got into full swing again. 

He had just left the grocery store and rounded the corner when he was attacked from behind. Cool, nimble hands covered over his eyes, tilting his head back a bit, the body connected to them close behind.

"Guess who?" said the not-so-mysterious voice.

Kurama found himself smiling for about the hundredth time that day, "Well, it's nice to see you up and about again." He tried to move his head out of the way given that his hands were full.

The hands pulled away, allowing Kurama to face his captor. He was greeted with the sight of Kyra Imagawa, the adopted daughter of family friends and one of his favorite secrets. They'd had the pleasure of meeting each other when they were seven and had since then become close friends…and reserved allies.

Kyra was a tall, fit woman, thanks to her many years of training as a martial artist. Her hair was brown, and long, reaching just past her backside in a kept braid. Her body was somewhat disproportioned, with an abnormally large chest area and a very mild flare of hips. He'd blushed when she herself had blantly said that she didn't have an "ass" (which he knew to be her goal) and though Kurama never told her, he had to agree. Her features were very uncommon amongst Japanese people, having blue eyes that weren't as slanted and higher cheekbones. Not even her skin was normal, having gotten a somewhat dark tan that almost appeared to have permeated itself in her flesh over the course of the summer.

But looks weren't everything.

"How are you?" he asked giving her the once over. Last time they talked had been a couple of weeks ago on the phone. Since then she'd been cooped up at home healing herself after a vigorous outing.

"I'm good. My hands are all better." She held them up for Kurama's inspection.

"You never did tell me how you burned them."

"By touching something hot."

Kurama rolled his eyes. "There are plenty of other ways to burn yourself."

Kyra changed the subject, "So what are you up to? Running some errands for your mom again?"

"Yes, she asked me to after I was done meeting with my friends."

"Oh really? School friends or other friends?"

"Other friends."

"Ah. You guys don't hang out as much as you did last year. Something happen?"

"Work…and the lack of it."

"I bet you really miss it, don't you."

"Tons." She laughed at his sarcasm. Kyra stood beside him as they began walking down the streets of Tokyo.

"So Kyra, what has you out and about today?"

She held out a small shopping bag. "I ran out of supplies."

"I thought you were healed?"

"I am, I just wanted to be stocked up."

"Looks like you bought quite a bit."

"I go through this stuff pretty fast, with as often as I get hurt."

"You're right, you do need it. Where are you headed now?"

"Home."

"No car?"

"No gas," she gave him a skeptical glance. "Why? Hoping for a ride?"

"It would have been nice."

"You're gonna have to settle with walking back with me."

"Darn."

Kyra playfully hit him on the shoulder as they made their way out of the city.

* * *

"So you're going back to the Dark Tournament?" 

"If we can find a fifth member."

"And how's that going?"

"At the moment, not to good."

"Figures. You actually want to go back and you can't."

"That's not for certain yet."

"What are you going to tell your mom if you end up going?"

Kurama shrugged, "I'm sure I'll think of something."

Kurama and Kyra put their conversation on hold as they neared the Minamino household. Entering into the house, the two removed their shoes, then headed into the kitchen, where Kurama set his bags down. Shiori was there to greet them.

The older woman looked up from the dishes she was drying. "Kyra! What a nice surprise!" she exclaimed, apparently skipping the acknowledgement of her son.

Kyra kindly embraced her friend's mother. "It's nice to see you too, Shiori."

Kurama only smiled at the females' interaction as he put the groceries away. His mother had always acted more caringly towards Kyra, knowing that the girl had had a hard time as a child. Not that his mother wasn't kind to everyone, it was just that Kyra was a little bit more special. Then there was the fact that Shiori had been trying to subtly hook the girl up with him, getting the two together whenever ever the chance presented itself. Unfortunately for her, the teenagers had caught onto her schemes long ago and were able to easily avoid any tricks thrown their way.

"Tell me what you've been up to. It's been so long since Shuichi has brought you around." Kurama sweat dropped from his mother's teasing scold. Kyra picked up on it and set out to correct her.

"Oh no, it's not Shuichi's fault, I've just been really busy lately helping my dad in finishing up his research from Africa and all that other good stuff. Plus I started a little late in my schooling."

"That's right! Shuichi told me you were going to Africa this summer. How was it?"

"It was quite the adventure. Hot, too."

Shiori gave a polite chuckle. "I bet it was. Did you like it?"

"Very much."

"Why don't you stay for dinner and you can tell me all about it."

"Thanks Shiori, but Shuichi already agreed to walk me home so…"

The woman's eye sparkled at the comment. "Well then don't let me keep you waiting. Shuichi, don't worry about the groceries, I'll put them away."

Kurama stopped himself from grabbing another bag. "Are you sure? It'll just take me a sec-"

"I'm sure. You don't want to keep Kyra waiting."

"Yeah Shuichi, listen to your mother." Kyra smiled smugly. Kurama wanted to roll his eyes, but refrained from doing so. His mother would expect him to be a gentleman.

He sighed quietly in defeat. "Yes, of course."

Kyra tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I guess we better get going."

Shiori walked the couple to the door. "Tell your mother I'll call her soon and then we can all get together to hear about your trip."

"Will do. Bye Shiori." Kyra waited until Kurama finished adjusting his shoe before opening the door and heading out.

"I'll be right back, mother." Kurama called, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Kyra waited until they were on the side walk before saying anything. Smiling, she shook her head, "Poor Shiori. She really wants us together." 

"Yes, she does."

"I almost hate to disappoint her."

"I know the feeling."

There was a moment of silence as they crossed the street.

Kurama put his hands in his pockets, "Why did you want me to walk you home? So you could tell me how it was exactly you got hurt. It must have been serious to keep you bed ridden for so long."

Kyra gave a little shrug, "Not really. We had just gotten off the plane and I was tired and hungry and _not_ in the mood to deal with anyone wanting to pass over."

"Hm."

"And when I got there I wasn't expecting a whole frickin' army to be waiting for me."

"A whole army?" Kurama raised an eyebrow at her exaggeration.

"Ok, not an army, but there was a least ten of them."

"Definitely more than the usual."

"They weren't lower class youkai either."

"Interesting."

"Quite."

"I take it you didn't finish them off then?"

She shook her head, "Nope."

"That still doesn't explain how you got hurt."

"Why does it matter?" she lightly snapped.

Kurama felt a little sting from her words. "I was just curious," he said offhandedly.

Hetensed a little when Kyra gripped him by the bicep, effectively stopping him in his tracks. She tilted her head up an inch to look in his eyes, a gentle smile on her face. "Kurama, you shouldn't worry about me so much. You'll drive yourself insane."

The red-head relax, waiting until she let go to say something. "I know, but it's hard to do sometimes. There are things you do that make me think you're crazier then Yusuke."

The two finished walking the short distance to Kyra's house. After Kurama's mother had remarried they'd moved into a house only a couple blocks away from hers to accommodate the new family. It was certainly an improvement from where they use to live. She knew it relieved Kurama to see his mother happy and not living in the cramped up space of a two bedroom apartment.

They stopped just before the porch steps. Kyra turned to look at her friend. "Kurama, the reason I wanted you to walk me home was to tell you that if worst comes to worst and you can't find a fifth member, don't be afraid to give me a ring."

"Thanks Kyra, but I don't think that will be necessary. Besides, you're supposed to be in hiding."

"I want to return all the favors I owe you. Especially after all the favors you've done for me. Besides, it's not like anyone would know me. I always cover my face when I go out. To them I'd just be a normal human."

"Maybe…"

Kyra cut him off. "You don't have to decide anything right now. It would only be a last resort." She walked up the porch steps to go inside, pausing when Kurama called her name.

"Kyra."

She turned to look at him.

"When are you coming back to school? The terms already started and you haven't been there once."

"Soon."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

"I'm holding you to it. Bye then."

Kyra waved good-bye as she entered her house.

Kurama turned to leave. He'd have to give her offer a little more thought.

* * *

A/N: First chapter of the revised edition. I don't have a beta, so there might still be some mistakes. This is going to take a while takes a deep breath. I'm hoping to post once a week. We're going to be moving in a couple weeks, so we'll see how that affects my updating. 

P.S. This version follows the summary much better.


	2. Chapter 2: The Team

**Secrets of the Portal Keepers**

**Chapter 2**

"**The Team"**

_By: Katroom_

Kurama got up from his desk chair and flopped down onto his bed, face first. He'd just gotten off the phone with Yusuke, and after almost an hour of discussion, they still hadn't found anyone to replace Genkai. The team leader had already contacted Hiei and Kuwabara previous to their conversation, with no luck in coming up with a solution. It was his guess that Yusuke called him last in hopes that their smartest member would have a solution. He was mistaken.

For the most part.

Of course, Kurama still had **her** offer. And with only two days left until the tournament, it didn't look like he had any other choice. He'd have to use his last resort.

It wasn't that he didn't trust Kyra, because he did. Their 10-year acquaintance had been the building blocks of a strong friendship and he was glad that he knew her as well as he did. But it was from this well-known knowledge of her persona that his doubt spawned from. Kyra had never been a "team player" and for good reason. Her personality was difficult to handle if you weren't open-minded or at least tolerant. So it caused some suspicion when Kyra willing volunteered herself for the position of their fifth team member. Wasn't she supposed to be keeping a low profile, especially in the Makai? Why did she wish to return all his favors this way?

Kurama flipped over and sat up against his pillows. He looked over at the cordless phone resting on his desk, and then the clock right next to it. _8:30_ – plenty of time to call her. Taking a deep breath, he ran his fingers through his hair. He was looking into it too much. They were friends, and Kyra wouldn't use him like he'd known her to do to others. If she didn't think she could pull it off, she wouldn't have said anything.

Picking up the phone, Kurama dialed Kyra's number and waited for someone to answer.

She did owe him – and he really wanted to go.

"Moshi, moshi?"

"Good evening, Mrs. Imagawa. It's Shuichi."

Kyra's adopted parents and siblings were some of the few people in the Ningenkai who knew about the existence of demons and what not without actually having any real interaction with them, save for himself. Kyra had told her family his secret identity, but for the sake of avoiding any slips around his family, they always called him Shuichi. Their only connection to all of this though, was through Kyra, and her double operative life.

"Shuichi, you know you don't need to be so formal with us," Kyra's mother said. Since their families were so close, everyone was pretty much on a fist name basis with each other. Growing up as a human had made too much of a gentleman.

"Sorry, Mieko, it's a habit."

"It's okay. How have you been lately?"

"Very well, and you?"

"Just peachy. How's school going?"

"Fine, nothing to stress about yet."

"That's good. I was worried Kyra might be overwhelmed when she went back."

"I'm sure she won't have any problems."

"I'm glad. Hold on a second and I'll go get her for you."

"Okay." The sound of yelling could be heard before another phone clicked on and the other was hung up.

"Hello?" Kyra was the only person he knew (besides Hiei, but he didn't really count) that didn't answer with the traditional 'moshi, moshi,' like most Japanese people.

"Hey Kyra, it's Kurama."

"Hey Kurama. I was beginning to think that you found somebody else and weren't going to call me."

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to."

"Hm, see if I try and help you again."

"I'm sorry, Kyra. I know you mean well."

"Nope, too late. My feelings are hurt."

"Since when do you have feelings?" Kyra's insensitive attitude tended to bring out the worst in him, but Kurama found it to be a nice relief from his usual guise as a polite, intelligent, high school student.

"Since you hurt them," she choked out forcibly. Kurama's quiet laughter came over the line. It seemed her acting wasn't taking affect on her childhood friend, not that she meant for her charade to be taken seriously. "Anyway, I believe you called for a reason?"

"I did."

"And…"

"What? It's not like you don't already know."

"True, but if you don't ask me, then it won't count as a favor."

Kurama rolled his eyes. "Fine. Kyra, will you do me a favor and accompany me to the Dark Tournament."

There was a dragged out sigh on the other end. "It's the least I could do."

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Knowing that they were for sure going to be able to go took away some of his apprehension. Now all he had to be concerned about were the others.

"So why didn't you want to ask me to go?"

"I didn't want to have to tell my friends about you," he lied. Well, not completely. It wasn't the main reason why, but he didn't want to put any unnecessary tension between them by telling the truth and questioning her motives.

A fit of laughter broke out on the other end. "You haven't told them about me yet!"

"…No."

She was still reeling from this newfound information. "Why not?"

"I thought I was protecting you from some unwanted attention."

"Kurama, you know you could've told them about me without mentioning my _profession_."

"Yes, but these are my friends and I didn't want to have to suffer under their speculations if I didn't have to."

"Hn. Boys will be boys, I guess."

"Yes they will."

"It's no big deal. You're the one who's going to have to tell them in the end."

"Try not to get too worked up about it..." Kurama said sarcastically.

There was laughter on the other end.

(2)(2)(2)

The pair then went on to discuss matters revolving around school, and Kyra's continuing absence. When Kurama asked why she hadn't shown up, she used the excuse that if she went to this tournament with him, there was not much point in going for a couple days and then missing a week. He wasn't sure if he bought it, but he couldn't force her to go if she didn't want to. Not like any of her teachers missed her all that much. Ever since she transferred over, Kyra had been more than a handful for the staff of the strict high school they attended, and she wasn't particularly favored amongst the populace there, either.

Kyra also gave him an alibi to tell his mother. Apparently her dad was going to some convention this weekend to do a presentation on his latest findings in the archeological world. It was only a weekend long thing, but if need be, Mr. Imagawa could cover for them. The story was that Kyra had an extra ticket and had invited Kurama to go along. Since it was an educational experience, Kurama was positive that his parents wouldn't have any problem agreeing to such a thing – that and the fact that Kyra and he would have a chance to be together.

Before they said their good-byes, Kurama informed Kyra of their schedule and when they'd be leaving, deciding to talk about any of the details later. After Kurama had finished his idle chat with Kyra, he decided to call Yusuke back to tell him the good news.

"Moshi, moshi?" answered Yusuke, sounding a bit distracted.

"Yusuke, it's Kurama."

"Didn't I just talk to you?" It still didn't sound like Kurama had his complete attention.

"Yes, but I was calling to inform you that I found someone to go to the tournament with us."

"Really?" Now he was listening. "Who is it?"

"A friend of mine. She's a martial artist and she said she'd be willing to—"

"Wait? It's a chick?"

"Yes. Is that going to be a problem?" Maybe he should have played the pronoun game.

"No. It's just that I never knew you had a girl friend."

"She's not my girlfriend, Yusuke."

"Hey now, all I said was she was a _girl_ friend, not a girlfriend. Don't get all defensive on me."

Kurama didn't say anything, knowing Yusuke was only trying to get a rise out of him. Even if that wasn't what Yusuke meant, people still made the assumption that they were together, even if all they ever did was hang out and chitchat now and then. Fortunately Yusuke put his teasing on hold long enough to discuss the issue at hand.

"So this friend of yours is a martial artist, huh?"

"Yes."

"She any good?"

"Good enough for what we need."

"She got any supernatural powers, like Kuwabara?"

"A few, I believe."

"She must know about demons and stuff then if she agreed to come."

"Yes, she does."

"Does she know about you?"

"Yes. I've also told her about you and Hiei as well. I didn't want her doing anything that was a bad idea because she had been misinformed."

"Yeah, that was probably a good idea. What's her name?"

"Kyra."

"Kurama, I've known you for…what? Two years now? How is it that I've never met this girl?"

"You have met her – once…briefly."

"When?"

"At my mother's wedding."

"Really? What she look like?"

"She's tall – about 5' 11", long brown hair, kind of tan."

"Was she the one with the big boobs?" Leave it to Yusuke to be blunt about a woman's anatomy. Kurama was glad they were having the conversation over the phone and not in person, because there was no way he could stop himself from blushing.

He had to clear his throat before answering. "…yeah, that would be her."

"Damn, she was kinda hot. I didn't know she was a fighter."

"Kyra's not one to go around flaunting that sort of thing, like _some_ people."

"Hehe. Well if you say she can fight then I'll believe you. Not like we got much of a choice seeing as the tournament is only a couple days away and all."

"I trust that you'll call the others and tell them the good news."

"Yeah sure, as soon as I beat this level."

Kurama gawked a little at what his friend just told him. "Yusuke, don't tell me you've been playing video games this whole time."

"Ok then, I won't."

Yusuke could have sworn he felt the breeze generated by Kurama's sigh. "Good night Yusuke."

"Night, Kurama."

"Oh, and Yusuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Better not tell Kuwabara it's a girl."

"I wasn't planning on it."

"Good. I'll see you Friday then."

"Right. Bye, Kurama."

"Bye." Kurama hit the "talk" button and placed the phone back on his desk. Taking a deep breath to compose himself, he sat up and removed his clothing until he was only in his boxers. Climbing under the covers, Kurama reached up and turned off his desk lamp, the only source of light in the room. Pitched into darkness, the fox demon settled himself in for the night, taking one last deep breath to block out any thoughts that might disturb him from his sleep. As much as he would have liked to dwell on the near future, he needed rest. He still had school tomorrow.

(Meanwhile)

After Kyra had finished her chitchat with Kurama, she headed downstairs to inform her family of her impending absence. She found all four of them sitting in the living room watching one of their favorite sitcoms on TV. Her dad had a book on Greek Mythology in his lap that he no doubt reading in-between commercials, which happened to be on right now. Taking a seat next to her mom on the couch, Kyra commanded the attention of all present with the exaggerated clearing of her throat.

When they finally caught on, she started, "Listen, I'm going to be gone for about a week on business, so if anyone asks, I'm with dad at his convention, and Kurama's there too."

"Work I presume?" asked her mom.

"Yeah. We're leaving Friday night, and should be back sometime on Saturday."

"I trust you and Shuichi will behave yourselves?" her dad broke in. "We don't need someone coming back with a bun in the over," her joked.

Kyra gave him a dirty look. She was well adjusted to the older man's teasing and immaturity, and knew what to expect. Incredulously, he was the one man who could convince her to belief in his false shenanigans. And she was the gifted one…

Choa and Lea, her younger fraternal twin siblings laughed from the side. At 14, they had both enrolled into their first year of high school, the same one Kyra attended with Kurama. It looked like they were already doing homework on a regular basis, only a week and a half into the semester. All the more reason for her to put off going back. She hated that school with a passion and had no qualms with skipping out as long as possible. She had had to transfer there from her other school after excelling in some of her language classes and extracurricular activities, and getting in with "the wrong crowd", as her sensei had put it. He was the one to issue the transfer in the first place. The only reason she wasn't going now was because she was on extended medical leave, as prescribed by her personal doctor.

Kyra hit the mute button on the remote as the show came back on. "We clear on everything?"

"We understand, honey," her dad confirmed, looking at his youngest children for their quick nods of acknowledgement.

"Is there anything you need before you leave?"

"I need some gas money." Kyra had spent a lot of her own money on their summer trip, and didn't have enough for a full tank.

Mr. Imagawa pushed his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose. "You can take some from my wallet. You've helped me a lot this past week."

Kyra got up to give him a kiss on the cheek, "Thanks daddy." At 17 years old, Kyra still used very childlike terms when referring to her parental figures. Turning back towards the stairs, she stopped at the bakers rack with a basket full of junk in it, where the wallet lay. Taking out a justifiable amount, Kyra put it back and went back to her room to turn in for the night.

(2)(2)(2)

Friday rolled around faster than Kurama had anticipated, and it was only a matter of time before relief – or an obscene amount of regret - replaced his ever-growing feeling of anxiety. Tonight was the night when Kyra would finally meet his friends and teammates for the first time. He already knew Kuwabara was going to have a problem with it, but it didn't take much to sway the proud teen, especially when a certain ice-demon was involved. As for Yusuke…well he was confident there wouldn't be any problem there – say for the spontaneous jeer at their relationship. It comforted him somewhat to know that the former Spirit Detective was more or less unconcerned about petty things like that and would provide a bit of support on his decision. Hiei on the other hand…he was a swing choice. Kurama would have to his faith in him and hope the fire demon would do the same with him.

Now if he could only push away his qualms about Kyra…

It was too late now to second-guess himself as he was already walking to said girl's house, bag in hand. He had told his mother earlier in the week of his plans for the upcoming days and had made preparations at school as well. His mother seemed completely unconscious to any form of mischief on his part and ushered him out the door with a kiss and "have fun". It was his own theory that she was hoping that Kyra and himself might get that chance to _know-each-other_ a little better.

It was ironic that, in actuality, they were sneaking off to a hotel on a secluded island with no one to watch them but themselves.

Arriving at the porch steps, he walked up onto the deck and rang the doorbell. There was some rustling inside, along with some yelling, before Kyra's foster mother opened the door. "Hello Shuichi. Kyra's up in her room doing some last minute packing, so just come on in and make yourself comfortable."

Kurama uttered a polite "thanks", stepping in and setting his bag down by the door. Leaving his jacket on, he waited until Meiko had shut the door before following her into the living room and taking a seat in one of the many chairs donning the large family area. He greeted Mr. Imagawa upon entering and sat there quietly, waiting for Kyra to arrive.

"So Shuichi, how was your summer?"

Kurama stopped his gazing of the redecorated room to answer Mr. Imagawa's question. "Okay. I started working part-time at my stepfather's business firm to earn a little extra money. You?"

"It was great, say for the smoldering heat, poisonous bugs, and hungry lions."

Kyra decided to appear at that exact moment. "Dad, don't exaggerate. There was only one lion and it was already carrying something to eat." She walked over to wear all their coats were hanging and dropped her bag so she could put hers on.

"Ready?" she turned and asked, looking expectantly at Kurama.

Kurama gave a nod and got up from his seat. He said his good-byes, watching as Kyra kissed both her parents farewell, and then followed her out the door, bags in tow.

They walked to her jeep, which was already sitting in the driveway with it's top down. It was an off-roader with large tires, requiring you to step up to get into it. The jeep was forest green in color with a retractable roof, complete with 4-wheel drive, suspension, and a stick. Kyra had told him it was a present from an anonymous friend for her sixteenth birthday.

They deposited their bags in the back before hopping into their seats, Kyra behind the wheel. After strapping on their seatbelts, she started the engine and gave it a few seconds to warm up.

"Where am I headed?" she asked.

"Do you know where the West docks are?"

"The ones way out of town, for private use only?"

"Yep."

"Then I know where they are."

Kyra drove out into the street, pausing at a four way stop. Kurama brushed his hair back as the wind tussled it around. "What were you doing?"

"When?"

"While I was waiting."

"Oh, I was just talking to Summer and saying bye to Choa and Lea. I was just making sure all three of them understood what my alibi was so they wouldn't say something stupid. Especially Summer."

"I don't know why you hang out with her, she's such a bad influence on you."

"That's why you'll never meet her."

Kyra turned on the radio to a local station and settled for sitting in comfortable silence with her companion as they made their way out of town. Kurama tried not to dwell on the future too much as, unbeknownst to him, Kyra tried to do the same.

(Later, at the boat)

Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei all stood on the deck of the boat waiting for Kurama and their fifth member to arrive. The medium sized ferry was already crowded with spectators and teams mumbling quietly to themselves, keeping a wary eye on the commotions around them. Everyone seemed impatient to get going.

"Where the hell are they?" Hiei asked, annoyed that they had to wait for the fox, of all people.

Yusuke leaned against the railing and put his hands behind his head. "Chill, Hiei. They've still got plenty of time."

"Did Kurama tell either of you who this friend of his is?" Kuwabara stood with his arms crossed, looking slightly thoughtful. It bothered him that they'd never met this guy before. What if it was some demon in disguise sent to kill them? And if it truly was some friend of Kurama's, how come they wouldn't get to him meet until now? Surely this new fighter could have helped them in the past…

Yusuke and Hiei gave each other knowing looks. "Not a clue," Yusuke confirmed. Better they leave the mystery fighter a mystery until the time came. Neither he, nor Hiei, wanted to listen to Kuwabara's rant for the next half hour.

Kyra and Kurama had, by that time, pulled off of the road and into the forest, about half a mile away from the boat landing.

Kurama gave the girl a quizzical look. "What are you doing?"

"Parking my car. I don't need anybody steeling it while I'm away. Besides, we stopped by the bus stop a little ways back, so everyone will just assume we came that way."

The fox demon gave an "Ah…" and a slow nod of the head. Unbuckling his seat belt, he climbed out of the jeep and retrieved his bag from the back. He watched patiently as Kyra put the hood up, before getting out of the car and retrieving her bag as well. Then she went to the back and unlocked the trunk, producing a green-army tarp.

She gave one end to Kurama and held the other. "Help me put this on." Kurama did as instructed, pulling the tarp over the top and tying it down around the wheels with a bungee cord. Once finished Kyra hit the key lock on her key chain and waited for the custom _click_ to signify that the doors had indeed locked before picking up her bag and following Kurama back out to the road.

Now that they were on the road again, Kyra took a peek at her watch. _7:40_. Only a matter of time now. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself.

"Nervous?"

She glanced at the redhead walking beside her, but only for a second. "A little."

"Well that makes two of us then."

Kyra gave him a disbelieving look and a roll of they eyes. "Thanks, Kurama," she said sarcastically.

There was no turning back now. They had already passed a bend in the road and were within viewing distance of the boat.

An unfocused figure waved at them and yelled.

"Kurama! Over here!"


	3. Chapter 3: Reunion of Fighters

**Secrets of the Portal Keepers**

**Chapter 3**

**"Reunion of Fighters"**

_By: Katroom_

* * *

Kyra took one more calming breath and composed herself as they climbed up the ramp, three people waiting for them at the top. She clamped her ki down considerably after assessing the massive powers standing in front of her. Through their auras, Kyra was able to determine their identities by Kurama's descriptions. The human, Kuwabara, stood on her far left, wearing what looked like a school uniform and a grim look on his face. He was tall, and well built, with orange, curly hair, that she found to be rather dorky. Hiei, the fire-demon if she recalled, stood on her far right, wearing nothing but black, say for a white scarf and a katana at his belt. He seemed a little disgruntled and stood watching them with an impassive expression on his face.

And between those two stood Yusuke, their team leader. He was dressed much more casually than his team members and had a cocky grin on his face. Kyra was pretty sure they could get along nicely.

It was Yusuke who spoke first. "About time you got here."

"I'm surprised all of you are here so early," Kurama greeted back.

Yusuke rolled his eyes sarcastically before deliberately looking at his schoolmate. "Yeah, well, we wouldn't have been so early if someone hadn't insisted on doing so." His voice was filled with irritability.

"Who's the girl?" asked Kuwabara, pointedly ignoring the other teen's accusations.

Kurama introduced the girl confidently. "This is Kyra, my friend."

There was a short lull as all three pairs of eyes fastened to said girl. Kyra stood tall and straight, smiling in a manner that was both welcoming and self-assured. A tricky thing to do when she could visibly see their eyes travel up and down the length of her body.

Kuwabara gave an undignified snort, "That GIRL is our fifth member!" He became erratic as Hiei and Yusuke continued to look her over.

Yusuke's smile became less cheesy and more refined, "Welcome to the team."

Kyra looked him in the eye, "Thanks…glad to be here."

Yusuke was suddenly grabbed by the collar and forced to look at a hysteric Kuwabara. "Urameshi! Don't tell me you knew about this!"

The black haired teen gave his friend a cocky look, "Alright, then I won't. Now put me down." The taller teen gave him a challenging stare, but did as told, crossing his arms and muttering to himself afterwards.

Yusuke re-adjusted his clothes. "Don't worry about him. . .he doesn't know what he's talking about. Oh, my name's Yusuke, and this is Kuwabara," he pointed toward his tall friend.

"And the short guy over here is Hiei." The demon gave an agitated "hn" at being called short. "So you're our fifth member?"

"So I was told. That's not going to be a problem, is it?"

"Not so long as you can fight."

"I think I can handle that."

"What do you mean it's not going to be a problem?" Kuwabara shouted at Yusuke. "She's a GIRL for crying out loud!"

"I noticed, but I'm failing to see what the problem with that is. Besides, it's not like we have a choice anymore, now do we."

Kuwabara fumed, knowing he was right. He ended up just letting out an angered growl and crossing his arms again.

Kurama and Hiei had both remained silent during the whole display. They were staring at each other, with Hiei taking an occasional glance at Kyra. Finally, the fire demon looked away, and Kurama took his silence as an approval of his choice.

"Come on," Yusuke motioned, "we got a spot picked out and we're gonna be leaving soon."

Kyra and Kurama followed the others onto the boat and over to the railing, setting their bags down by the ones already found there. It was dark like the last time they had been here, although there was a little light coming from the upper deck where the captain and his crew resided in a steering cabin. The group of five watched as a couple more fighters boarded the boat, and then they pulled out.

Hiei jumped up onto the railing, facing the crowd of demons and fighters. He kept a wary eye on them, wondering if there was going to be some sort of preliminary match like last time. His attention was distracted when Yusuke struck up a conversation with the new girl, Kyra. She was sitting on the railing between him and Kurama. His focus changed to their conversation with hopes of learning a little something about their new teammate.

"So Kyra, how do you know Kurama?" Yusuke began.

"Our parents are good friends."

"Do you go to the same school?"

"Yep, but I didn't transfer there until my first year of high school."

"How long have you known him?"

Kyra looked up as if making a calculation in her head. "Must be a little more than 10 years now."

Their conversation was interrupted by a voice calling out over the crowd.

"Hey Urameshi!" All five of them looked up to see the source of the sound.

"Urameshi!" it called again, and then the figure of a tall demon with red hair, a horn, and pointy ears came into view, followed by four other oddly looking characters.

"Jin?" asked Yusuke. As Jin came closer, Yusuke started to smile.

"Hey! What's up you guys?" he yelled welcoming them. Kyra watched curiously as the group pushed their way through the crowd to stand in front of them. They stood in a straight line, watching as their redheaded friend indulged in conversation with Yusuke. On the far left was a short man in a ninja uniform, with blue hair and a stoic look. Next to him was another, taller man with blonde hair, wearing a white shirt and pink pants. Right of him was a young kid with three stars under one of his eyes, and a large, colorful hat on his head. Coming up to stand next to Yusuke was a husky looking guy with a blue mo-hawk, wearing a blue vest with fur on it.

"I was hopin' to see you here Urameshi!" said the one named Jin. The demon spoke with an energetic Irish accent that made it difficult for Kyra to discern what he said. She almost didn't catch that first sentence.

Yusuke clasped hands with the man, as if they were going to arm wrestle, "Glad to see you made it."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world!" The two shared a laughed at some unspoken joke, happy to see they'd have yet another chance to fight one another.

The short, blue haired man came over to stand in front of Kurama.

"I see you're doing well, Kurama." His voice was cool, and collected, like fresh fallen snow.

The only change in Kurama was the appearance of a small, placid smile, "You too."

"Heard you decided to return to the Ningenkai. Have you no desire to return to your old way of life?"

"I'm afraid there isn't much of an old life to return to – and I had one already waiting for me in the human world."

The pale demon gave a single nod of acceptance. His eyes strayed for a second to the right, finally noticing the girl that had been peering at him intriguingly. "Who's the girl?"

Kurama glanced to his left at the young woman in question. He smiled at the shorter demon and put his hand on the back of Kyra's right shoulder. "Forgive me…Touya this is Kyra, our fifth member for the tournament."

He then turned his attention to his other friend. "Kyra, this is Touya, the Ice Master."

Kyra smiled kindly at her new acquaintance, "It's nice to meet you Touya."

The demon nodded back politely, "You as well."

"Likewise," said another man who had abruptly joined the conversation. It was the large burly man with a mo-hawk. He spoke with a gruff, Australian accent, and was leering at Kyra with a lopsided grin plaster on his face. "I'm Chu."

"I forgot to tell you," Touya began, looking at Kurama. "After the last tournament, the five of us decided to join up and create a new team.

"And I know who I'm gonna be fightin' when our match comes around," Chu declared. He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"And who that might be?" Kyra said jokingly, arching her eyebrow to emphasize her sarcasm.

The man gave a bemuse chuckle and spoke down to the young boy she' seen early, "I like her."

The kid just rolled his eyes, obviously familiar with the older man's antics. "Just ignore him." He flashed a bright smile at Kyra and pointed his thumb at himself.

"I'm Rinku, fifth member of the Rokuyukai team."

She looked down at him, bemused, "You're awfully young, don't you think?"

Chu put his hand on the kids head and ruffled his hair through the fabric of his hat, "Don't let the looks fool you. He's one tough kid."

A high, piercing ring sounded out over the dull roar of the crowd as the loud speaker came on from the steering cabin. The captain's brusque voice came over the line. He informed the passengers that they would be docking soon and to make sure that when they got off the boat they didn't leave anything behind, for they weren't coming back until the end of the tournament. Everyone was to report to his or her room right after docking. Tournament info and schedules would be sent to them there.

Touya, Chu, and Rinku left with the other two members of their team to get their luggage, but promised to stop by and visit them before they fought. The fighters of the Urameshi team also gathered their luggage, and Yusuke passed out the room keys he received from Botan earlier.

Kyra leaned over the railing to look at her place of residence for the next week. The hotel was almost completely lit up and was, what she guessed to be, 20 stories high. The docking area was lit up as well, casting light on several other, _expensive,_ looking boats, and even a couple yachts. A dark forest surrounded the rest of the area. She thought she could make out a cliff off to the left, or at least a place of high elevation, but just barely. It was hard to see how big the island was exactly, but there would be plenty of time to scope it out in the daytime. For now she would just enjoy the fact that they wouldn't be living uncomfortably.

(3)(3)(3)


	4. Chapter 4: Surprise Friends

**Secrets of the Portal Keepers**

**Chapter 4**

"**Surprise Friends"**

_By: Katroom_

When they entered the building, the entire lobby was filled with people - rich people to be more precise – all of them dressed in their formal wear and drinking Champaign. There was pianist playing classical music from the back, and Kuwabara commented on how there were more of them than last time.

The group quickly made their way through the area to the elevators, huddling into the first one that became available. Yusuke hit the button that would take them to the 12th floor and the typical elevator came on as they began to travel upwards, everyone quiet as they watched the little number above the doors increase as they passed each level.

Once they arrived at their designated area, Yusuke directed them down the hall to room 507, the second door on the right. He slipped his key card into the slot on the door handle and pushed open the door, revealing a large luxurious looking living room. All five team members walked into the front of the room and stopped to gaze in astonishment.

The entire room was covered with plush, tan colored carpet, with pastel maroon walls adorned with various paintings to offset it. There were doors to three bedrooms on the side – two on the right, and one on the left next to a small kitchen area. The back wall was almost all window, except for the edges and two big plants in the corner. A large, rectangular portion of the floor was indented right in the middle, enough that you had to take two steps down to be in it. Two large couches resided there, along with a matching chair and a coffee table in the middle. A chandelier light hung over the table, shining enough light to illuminate the entire place, even though there were two lamps on side tables by the chair as well. All in all, the room was very nice.

"Alright!" Yusuke exclaimed, walking in and throwing his bag on one of the couches, plopping himself down next to it. "This room is much better than the one we had the first time we were here."

"Probably a few of the perks to being the returning champions," Kurama commented. The other four followed suit, entering the room and surveying it. Kyra headed over to the room on the left, halting to glance at the small kitchen before opening the door and flicking on the light.

"I found my room," she declared to the others, who looked at her curiously.

"One bed."

Kurama walked over the room adjacent to Kyra's, opening it up and peeking inside. Hiei pushed in past him and tossed his stuff onto the bed closest to the window.

"Guess this is our room," Kurama stated, heading in and putting his stuff down as well.

Kyra walked into her bedroom for the time being, laying her large duffle bag down by the foot of the bed. The room was a small rectangular shape with a window on the right wall. A single bed stuck out perpendicular to the wall across from the doorway, a small nightstand with a lamp on it to the left. One small dresser was to the left of the nightstand, a foot away, and then finally another door on the left wall. She walked over and peeked into what she found to be a private bathroom. A toilet, sink, mirror, tub (slash) shower, and a cabinet with towels – all toiletries present. Satisfied with the run over, Kyra flicked off the light and walked back into the main area.

Again she walked by the kitchen area, this time stopping to look in the mini fridge there.

"Anything in there?" asked Yusuke from the couch.

"Nope," she replied, shutting the door and looking in a few cupboards to find nothing but a few glasses. Just as she was making her way to sit on the couch by Kurama, there was a knock on the door. Kyra stopped and peered through the peephole, recognizing the person on the other side to be with room service, indicated by his choice of dress. He had a small cart with him.

Upon opening the door, the young man gave her a warm, and practiced, smile. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Fresh tea and a schedule," he explained. "Compliments of the hotel."

Kyra stepped out of the way so he could bring the tray in and set it down on the coffee table. He then gave a quick bow and left, leaving Kyra to close the door behind him. She went and took a seat next to Kurama, who had picked up a cup of tea. Yusuke had grabbed the tournament schedule and was already looking it over with eager anticipation, while an impatient Kuwabara read it from over his shoulder.

"Is the tea good?" Kyra inquired, trying to start some small talk.

"It's alright," Kurama replied, taking another sip.

Kyra reached for one of the cups, blowing on the steaming liquid before taking a small sample. She stared at the cup for a few seconds before setting it back down on the table, Kurama looking at her amused. "Didn't like it?"

She leaned back and crossed her arms under her chest. "It's hot." Kurama nodded once and took another drink.

Kyra hoisted her feet up onto the coffee table and turned her attention back to her friend. "So…what's the schedule going to be like?"

Kurama stretched his legs out a bit and crossed one over the other, "If it's anything like last time, we should have a match every other day."

"How many teams are there?"

"I believe sixteen."

"And the rules?"

Kurama turned his head to look at her, making sure she was making eye contact with him, "None, so watch you back out there."

Kyra gave him one small nod in understanding.

"There's no need to concern yourself," spoke Hiei, his first comments of the night. He stood by the large picture window looking out into the darkness, voice solemn, "With all of us being as strong as we are, there's a good chance you won't even have to fight."

"That's fine with me," Kyra said, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear that had come loose from her long braid. "I tend to be a very lazy person in general, so if I don't have to do something, I won't."

She had said it to be funny, but Hiei didn't seem to get it. He glanced at her from over his shoulder, "Then what are you doing here?"

"I owed Kurama a favor," she replied, seemingly unperturbed by his cold demeanor. The fire demon glanced at the redhead as if looking for confirmation, but he just sat there drinking his tea, acting as if he wasn't really paying attention. He "hn'd" and went back to looking out the window.

They sat in easy silence for a few minutes when there was yet another knock at the door. Kuwabara got up to answer the door just as Yusuke handed over the schedule to Kyra. She opened it up and placed it where both she and Kurama could look at it. But they didn't get a chance to read it before Kuwabara opened the door.

"SURPRISE!"

Everyone turned their heads to look at the five people standing in the doorway who had just announced their arrival simultaneously. Kyra looked back at Kurama with an arched eyebrow and spoke in a low tone, "Friends of yours?"

"Afraid so," he quietly responded. Both watched as the small group wandered into the room, not waiting for any sort of invitation, a young man closing the door behind them.

"You guys weren't suppose to be here till tomorrow," said a very shocked Yusuke. Two girls walked over to him.

"C'mon now Yusuke, is that how you welcome your friends?" said a blue haired one. She was wearing a bright pink kimono, her hair up in a ponytail, and talked with a bubbly personality.

"Yusuke," started the other female. This one was a bit shorter than the other and had brown hair that reached the middle of her back. "You forgot Puu."

"Why did you have to bring that thing?" Yusuke complained, scowling at the small blue creature in her arms.

"Yusuke!" The former Spirit Detective crossed his arms and "humph'd" in defeat.

Meanwhile, a bashful Kuwabara stood by the doorway talking to yet another girl, only this one was much shorter, had lighter blue hair, and was wearing an equally light blue kimono.

"Hey Yukina!" his acknowledgement came out a rushed speed.

"Hello Kazuma," she said back, her voice very calm and tranquil.

"Have you thought about me?" His posture had gone a bit rigid while his cheeks were tinted red.

"A couple of times." Kuwabara turned red and Kyra almost expected steam to start spurting off of him. An older woman came up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder, causing the teen to flinch.

"Stop harassing the poor girl, Kuwabara," she told him.

"I'm not!" he screeched back. The woman, who was tall and lithe and had brown hair, ignored the outburst and headed for one of the couches, but stopped when she noticed Kyra – the first to do so.

"Who are you?" she asked, her tone coming off very lax, as if she didn't really care all that much. She had, however, said it loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, and in turn, the other four newcomers looked at her as well.

Kurama took the initiative. "Guys, this is my friend Kyra. She's going to be our fifth member for the tournament." Kyra stuck up her hand and cocked it to the right in a goofy wave.

The girl with the bubbly personality moved to the other side of the coffee table and smiled brightly at Kyra. "You must be the girl that Yusuke was telling my about," she said kindly. "I'm Botan, the team manager, at your service."

Kuwabara was instantly in Botan's face, "Are you telling me you knew she was a girl too!"

"Well of course I knew!" Botan stood up straight and placed her hands on her hips. "As the team's manager, it is my responsibility to know all it's members and provide for them when necessary." The whole line was stated like a rehearsed manuscript from a rulebook, which it probably was.

"What's wrong with her being a girl?" said the smaller woman from her place by the steps.

Kuwabara blushed again, this time from embarrassment and stuttered out, "N-n-nothing, I guess."

Botan, seeing that the matter was over, sat down next to Kyra on the couch. "Let me introduce you to everybody. This is Keiko," she said, pointing at the girl who was currently sitting next to Yusuke on the couch. "Over here we have Shizuru, and Yukina, and that man there is –"

"Koenma," he said, identifying himself, "prince of the Reikai, and owner of the Urameshi team, at your service." His introduction was laced with charm, but Kyra showed no signs of being wooed by it, even after he picked up her hand and placed a wisp of a kiss on it.

Suddenly Botan was up and slamming an oar down into the Spirit Prince's head, sending him crashing onto the floor.

He hurriedly pushed himself off the ground, holding his bruised head. "Was that really necessary!" he yelled at her.

"You should learn to have more manners!" she yelled back. Botan sat back with a huff and Kyra leisurely wiped off the back of her hand on her jeans, trying to figure out where that oar had come from.

"So Kyra," Keiko began. She was sitting next to Yusuke on the couch, "how did you and Kurama know each other?"

"That's actually a really funny story," Kyra said, crossing her legs. "You see, I happen to see him standing on the corner one day and went 'you know, I think I want to meet that guy…' We've been friends since."

"We go to the same school," Kurama said immediately after her. "And our mothers are good friends as well."

Yusuke snickered a bit, "I was gonna' say…Kurama doesn't exactly talk to strangers off the street."

Kyra laughed lightly and peered at Kurama out of the corner of her eye. "He never let's me use that story. I can't figure out why though." Kurama could only roll his eyes at her sarcasm, choosing not to respond.

After some more small talk, Kyra was able to find out a few things: one) Not only were Keiko and Yusuke dating, but they were engaged as well; two) Shizuru was Kuwabara's older sister; and three) Yukina was an ice demon that lived with Yusuke's old teacher – an older woman by the name of Genkai. They also got to find out a little about her. Kyra's trip to Africa soon became the focus of conversation when Shizuru pointed out that her skin was so tan. That led to stories about Yusuke's adventures as Spirit Detective. He was reluctant to tell them at first, not sure if Kyra should here about such things, until Kurama gave him the ok.

Before they knew it, time had flown by and it was nearing nine o'clock. Kyra stood up in the middle the fight Yusuke and Keiko were having at the moment and stretched. Kurama watched her with inquisitive eyes.

"I'm gonna' go for a walk," she said, directing her comment at him.

"What for?" Why did she need to for a walk this late?

"My leg is asleep, so I'm just going to go for a short walk quick, maybe check out the hotel a bit."

"Ok. Do you have your key card?"

She was already heading towards the door when she pulled it out of her back pocket and showed it to him. "Be right back," she called, and they watched as she opened the door and left.

(4)(4)(4)(4)

Kyra shut the door softly, waiting until she heard the click to let out a deep breath. It had suddenly become very hot in there and she needed to cool off. They hadn't been there more than a few hours and already she could sense the beginning of many problems and complications.

Koenma… 

She'd have to be careful around him. Him being here was not a factor she'd accounted for and if he figured out who she was, there would be hell for all of them. It had surprised when her name hadn't brought some sort of recognition to his mind. Perhaps it was because it was an abbreviated version of her full one. Either way, avoiding him and conversations of her family would be her best choice of action at this point.

Kyra opted to take the stairs down to the main lobby. Her leg wasn't really asleep, but her butt hurt from sitting down so long. Hopefully downstairs would be cooler and a bit quieter.

(4)(4)(4)(4)

Kurama sat reading the schedule he hadn't gotten a chance to see earlier when a body landed itself right next to him on the couch, causing him to sink down a bit. He glimpsed over to see Yusuke staring at him with a huge smile on his face.

"Yes?" Kurama asked, wondering what could be on the teens mind.

"You and Kyra were gettin' kinda cozy over here, don't cha think?" Yusuke said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Kurama looked back at the schedule. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Yusuke poked a finger into the older boys cheek. "Come on…I saw the way you made googlly eyes at her."

"I did know such thing," Kurama stated, swiping the hand away. Soon Koenma and Kuwabara joined in on the hassling.

"Just admit it," Yusuke persisted, "you like her."

"We're just friends, Yusuke." Kurama was trying his best to be nonchalant so as not to add any more fuel to the fire.

"Are you sure? 'Cause I would understand if you did. She's hot."

"Yusuke!" Keiko screeched.

"I was just sayin'!"

"Yusuke, you pig!" A resounding slap followed and Keiko left the room in preferment of her own.

"Well she is…" Yusuke murmured rubbing his bruised cheek. The conversation on the subject was ended with that.

(4)(4)(4)(4)

Kyra stood on the second floor balcony looking down into the lobby, which still had a few of its high-class rollers in it. She was contemplating on walking through there in here plain old shirt and jeans or finding a back door when someone caught her eye.

At first she leaned over the railing and squinted her eyes, trying to clarify that it was really him. When she felt sure that it was, she left her spot and headed for the stairs down. Kyra took them hurriedly, watching as the man's current company gave him a handshake goodbye and began his departure. She could see his profile now and felt the tension of possible misidentification drift away.

"Mr. Franc?"

The older man turned at the sudden call of his name. His eyes blinked in disbelief at the girl who now stood in front of him.

"Kyra, is that you?"

Kyra smiled jovially and took a few steps closer. The man in return let out a hearty laugh and walked close enough to give her a big hug, placing a kiss on both her cheeks. Kyra returned the gesture, as it was the French thing to do.

"Mr. Franc, what are you doing in Japan?"

Even though he was from France, Mr. France was a quarter Japanese and had always had a special interest in the culture. None of the blood trait appeared on him though, standing at 5' 11 (only slightly taller than herself) and a broad build. His skin white and his hair graying, Mr. Franc was an average European, and amazed many with his fluent Japanese.

"I've come to bet on the fights, of course. What are you doing here?"

"I've come to fight."

He let out another chuckle. "I guess I know where to put my money then."

Kyra smiled knowingly. A couple years back, Kyra had enter a boxing tournament for training and Mr. Franc had just happened to be there. She convinced him to bet on her after no one else would and made him a very rich man by winning the competition. He was so grateful, that on her sixteenth birthday, she found a gift from him waiting in her parents' driveway.

She suddenly felt very nervous about his being here and scanned the surrounding area. Seeing no one she knew, she grabbed Mr. Franc by the arm and led him over to a more secluded area.

"Mr. Franc," she said softly. "It's been great seeing you again, but for your own benefit, I think you should act like you don't know me."

He looked at her concerned for a moment but then nodded his head. They didn't need people thinking they'd fixed the tournament.

"I understand; but may I ask as to why exactly you're here?" He'd always known her to be a special girl, but her awareness of demons was news to him.

"Business," she said amiably, not elaborating further.

Kyra checked her watch. "I'm afraid I have to go now Mr. Franc. It was nice seeing you again."

"You as well," he said as she started to back away towards the elevators. "Good luck." Kyra smiled and waved pushing the down arrow by one of the doors and walking in as soon as it opened.

(4)(4)(4)(4)

When Kyra returned to the room, she found their guests had already left. In fact, only Kurama and Hiei were in the room, but she thought she could hear fighting coming from one of the bedrooms on the left.

"It's just Yusuke and Kuwabara," Kurama informed her after noticing her attention was on their door.

She headed over the couch and took a seat, "I guess they do that a lot, huh?"

"You could say that."

Kyra stretched her feet out on top of the coffee table, realizing the tea tray was gone. "I see your friends turned in already."

"They wanted to make sure they got enough rest so they'd be up in time for our fight tomorrow. It's an early one."

"And what's early, exactly?"

"Eight."

Kyra glanced at her watch and hefted herself up into a standing position. "I think I'm going to turn in for the night then, too." She walked to her bedroom door, calling out a quick "goodnight" before shutting it behind her.

There was silence in the main room as Kurama sat on the couch, pondering, and Hiei stood by the window doing the same. Minutes passed with neither of them speaking. Sometimes there would be a muffled sound of a bathroom door closing in one of the bedrooms or a thud from some unknown cause. Still the two demons stayed where they were, an unwanted tension building in the air.

Finally, Kurama broke the reverie, "Are they still there?"

Hiei paused a moment as if to double check. "No, but I'm sure they were earlier."

"When do you think they left?"

"I felt their presence disappear after your friend went for her walk."

Kurama's eyebrows furrowed together slightly, but he tried to remain calm about the situation. "Perhaps one of the teams sent a spy to scout out the competition?"

"Who ever it was made a foolish mistake if they thought they could beat us that way."

"We'll just have to keep our guard up tonight, that's all."

There was no response from the fire demon.

The teen pushed himself up off the couch and stretched. "I'm going to bed, but I think we should keep this to ourselves for now." He headed for their shared bedroom.

(4)(4)(4)(4)

Kurama shut the door behind him quietly, replaying what Hiei had said to him earlier.

"Someone's out there…" 

This had been after everyone had left and Yusuke and Kuwabara were locked up in their room. It had been so out of the blue and he had had to ask the shorter demon to repeat himself.

"Someone was watching us…" 

Kurama had tried to expand his senses, searching for the aura of the perpetrator, but found nothing, at least not within his range. At first he thought someone had discovered Kyra's identity and had come to investigate. But Kyra had done nothing to give that away and he soon dismissed that idea for a more logical one. Last time they were here, they'd had a few run-ins with up coming opponents, each wanting to size them up and give their fair warnings.

It couldn't be serious if they were gone already. Kurama ease himself into a self-assurance and walked into the bathroom to freshen up before bed. He heard Hiei enter a few minutes later.

(4)(4)(4)(4)

Kyra stood before the bathroom mirror, gazing at the image reflected back to her. Her shirt was off, though she still donned her sports bra and pants. Right now she was steadily removing the bandages from around her torso, watching as the dirty thing revealed a bruised abdomen and a bloody gauze. She finished in discarding the now old rags and carefully peeled the large gauze from her side, the dried blood sticking to her skin. That too went in the garbage.

Kyra turned herself so that her left side was visible in the mirror. Gently, she tested the two, horizontal claw marks, careful not to irritate the scabs. The wounds, that she had received more than a week ago, were still not healed. They were mending, but with painstaking slowness – a speed she did not have patience for. One of the marks, starting an inch or two from her bellybutton, ran straight out, starting thin and becoming thicker before thinning out again as the red line curved around to her back, stopping an equal distant from her spine as in the front. There was another mark, located just below her breast, repeating the same boomerang shape, complete with dark, purple bruising and swelling. The skin there was torn, and left an ugly mark, though that was the least of her concerns at this point.

Kyra pushed hesitantly on the ends and then on the left most side of her body, testing the extent of her recovery. The initial attack had left gashes mildly shallow at the beginning of the red stripes but delved deeper the farther away from her middle it got. The beast that had inflicted them had meant to carry her off without producing to much damage, but after she stabbed him, it lost it's grip, and in a desperate attempt to keep it's hold, gripped it's talons a bit to strongly as she started to fall from it's grasp. Fortunately, they hadn't been too high in the air when she was dropped and didn't suffer from any broken ribs, but she did lose a substantial amount of blood.

She continued to prod around the wound, finding that the skin seemed to be melded together pretty well from the blood. She'd have to be careful she didn't twist her body any way that would reopen it. Digging in her medical bag, Kyra applied some antibiotics, placed another large gauze over it and began the tedious work or re-bandaging her mid section.

(4)(4)(4)(4)


	5. First Fights

A/N: REVIEW! That's all (^_^) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kyra woke up around 8:00, even though she had joked about getting up later. She quickly pulled out some fighters' clothes; nicer ones knowing that today wouldn't be too hard. They consisted of loose, greenish-tan cargo pants that tied at the top and a stretchy, 3 quarter sleeved shirt of the same color that left her upper chest and back open. She went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth and redid her braid, brushing the hair.  
  
After making herself presentable, she sat on the floor and stretched. It was a combination of yoga. It always helped to calm her nerves and relax herself. Kyra determined that she was in a playful mood. The way she fought and acted always determined her morals and style for the day. She also felt that she should show off a little bit.  
  
It was 9:00 when she came out of her room. Kurama and Kuwabara were sitting in the living area waiting for her.  
  
" 'bout time you came out," said a somewhat annoyed Kuwabara. Kurama noticed that she was looking for the other two.  
  
"Hiei and Yusuke went to go check out the arena area. They said they'd be back soon. Why don't you eat something." Kurama pointed to a cart with food on it. Kyra walked over and took a muffin and a glass of milk. She ate it sparingly, not liking to eat too much before matches.  
  
"Your not going to wear those bracelets while you fight, are you?" asked Kuwabara. Kyra looked at the metal bars around her wrists.  
  
"Yeah, I am. Don't worry, they aren't going to hurt anything."  
  
Kyra was cleaning up her mess when the two fighters walked in the door. "How was it?" asked Kuwabara.  
  
"Same as last time," sighed Yusuke, "I stopped by the girls room and they said they'd meet us after the fight." Something in the way he said it brought a smile to her face. She knew how it had been 'last time', for she had bought tickets to the last tournament and had watched every fight. Not even Kurama knew that, so she would have to keep playing dumb.  
  
9:30: They left the room and headed down to the arena. They waited in a small room with medical supplies, and a table. As they were waiting Koenma appeared. "Just wanted to stop by and check on things. I expect you'll win." He then headed to his private viewing booth.  
  
"Jees, a little demanding, isn't he," Kyra commented.  
  
"You have no idea," replied Yusuke. They gave a small laugh and then heard the announcer call for the teams. They headed out to the hallway.  
  
Kyra took one last deep breath before they stepped out into the light of day. She pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on. The arena was crowded with people. To her it seemed that half were booing, the other half cheering. She could guess who the boos were for.  
  
"And now for the first fight of the Dark Tournament! The Urameshi team versus the Wildcard team!" The announcer was a demon that looked like a cross between a cat and a fox. She went by the name Koto. The crowd let out something between a cheer and a death chant to kill Urameshi.  
  
"At least not ALL of them are wanting us dead," said Yusuke.  
  
"Hard to believe it's better than last year," smirked Kurama.  
  
"Better?" asked a confused Kyra.  
  
"We'll tell you about it later," finished Kurama. Kyra nodded and looked at the crowd. On the top most ramp she could make out groups of 5 or 6. They must be other teams checking out her team. A smirk appeared on her face, knowing three of them. The Spirit demon, DA, and Rokuyukai had all gathered to see how they would fair in this fight.  
  
The announcer started up again, "Will the captains please come to the stage!" she called. Yusuke and the other team's leader jumped onto the stage. They decided it would be one on one matches. Yusuke set the atmosphere by telling the other guy how ugly his face was.  
  
First up was Kuwabara who was going up against an ape like demon by the name of Goki. The demon and been quite swift, being able move fast for his shape, but had slow attacks. It took Kuwabara a couple of blows to figure out his fighting style, but finally he punched the demon numerous times knocking him out. He came out with a few minor scrapes and bruises.  
  
"Win goes to Kuwabara!" called out Koto. Again there was a mixture of cheers and boos among the crowd. Next person to step onto the stage was a demon by the name of Shapeshifter.  
  
"I'll take this guy, if you don't mind," said Kyra and she hurried off onto the ring. Looks like we'll finally get to see what she's made of, thought Kurama. Her teammates watched with anticipation as she walked to the center of the stage.  
  
"The second match will be between Shapeshifter and team Urameshi's new editon, Kyra!"  
  
"Good luck," Kyra told her apponent.  
  
"You should be telling yourself that," he said. She could tell he had a big ego and was confident that he would win.  
  
"FIGHT!"  
  
The demon took a fighting stance, but Kyra simply stood still. He asked, "Why don't you put up a guard?"  
  
"For someone like you?" she started, raising an eyebrow, "That would be a waist of energy."  
  
"I don't think you realize where you are, girl. You should be glad I've decided to be easy on you."  
  
"We'll see about that," she smiled at his attitude towards her. The demon grew annoyed with her and charged her. He pulled his arm back, ready to punch. Just as he was starting to thrust his arm, she pivoted on her left foot and as he passed by her, she chopped him in the back of the head. He was sent hard to the floor, but quickly got up.  
  
He gave her a menacing stare. "How dare you.." he said in a low, threatening tone.  
  
"How dare I what?"  
  
"You're going to be sorry now. I won't hold anything back."  
  
"I doubt it will be much different from the way you're fighting now." He growled, but then smiled and gave a low, quiet laugh.  
  
"You think you funny?" She nodded. "Let's see if you're still laughing after this." He bent down and put his palms to the stone arena floor. She saw a glow between his palms and the floor and was able to sense him sending his spirit energy into stage. Kyra felt it start to move and quickly jumped high into the air. Her opponent followed her.  
  
As they were in the air, the floor beneath them started to shift and Koto ran off the stage. Poles started to shoot up from the arena until the floor was completely gone, having taken the shape of 20 ft. poles sticking up in the air. Kyra landed on two of the poles, as did Shapeshifter. Each pole was about a foot apart.  
  
"I call this attack my Balancing Act," he said, "I have the ability to manipulate any hard material and change it's shape to my will."  
  
"You can't change the volume though," Kyra said.  
  
"No I can't. But that doesn't matter. Now, let's see how good your balance is!"  
  
Kyra looked at the poles. They were only 1 inch in diameter, but they were big compared to the ¼ in. poles she was use to practicing on. "You're going to regret this," she said and charged at him, skillfully jumping from one pole to another. He had been caught off guard not only by her speed, but her ability to move without care.  
  
He was barely able to react, crossing his arms in front of his face as she punched him. But the force of the attack set him stumbling back and he lost his balance on the poles. He managed to recover in time, only to get a kick in the face. With this he was sent falling to the ground. Shapeshifter used his ability to shorten the poles and make a small podium halfway down. Kyra was looking down at him through the poles with a big smile on her face. He couldn't see the sparkle in her eye because of her sunglasses.  
  
He jumped back up onto poles and attacked her. She simply stepped backwards onto poles easily avoiding the attackes by turning her body. Kyra flipped backwards once grabbing two poles with her hands and as he passed over her she kicked him in the gut with both legs sending him up. She landed on her feet and moved back a couple of steps. Shapeshifter landed on his feet holding his stomach. He attacked her again and she was missed each time.  
  
"She's pretty good," commented Yusuke as they watched their teammate from below.  
  
"She's just toying with him, why doesn't she end it all ready?" stated an annoyed fire demon.  
  
"It's her style. She's going to hurt his pride before anything else. I've seen her do it to others when they try to start something with her," said Kurama.  
  
The teams watching from above were thinking similar things. The Rokuyukai team watched as the girl out did her opponent. "I'd like to fight her," said Chu.  
  
"Sometin tells me you'd like ta do more dan dat to her," said Jin.  
  
"You read my mind," replied Chu. They all gave a laugh; say for Rinku, who gave out a hopeless sigh. Chu was never going to change.  
  
The Spirit Demon team was also watching from above. Most of them weren't really paying attention too much, commenting on things they saw. Their leader, Toran, along with his father, Lord Kye, was watching with interest. "She's good," said Toran to his father.  
  
"She's going to be a hard opponent if you fight them," Lord Kye responded. Toran nodded.  
  
"What did they say her name was? Kyra was it? It sounds familiar."  
  
"Have you already forgotten the name of your sister." Toran looked at his father and felt guilt wash over him. His sister. . .her name was Kyrashima.  
  
"No I haven't forgotten, I guess I just didn't think about it enough."  
  
"When they first said her name," Lord Kye started, "that was the first thing that came to my mind. I thought it was her for a moment. But now that I see her in action, I seriously doubt it's her. Plus, she's not suppose to be out in public places like this."  
  
Toran nodded. They ended their conversation for it seemed the fight was coming to an end.  
  
"Well it's been fun, you tryin' to hit me and all, but now it's just a waste of my time," stated Kyra calmly. Her opponent was bruised and probably hurt all over, but she hadn't made him bleed yet.  
  
"We'll see about that," and with that Shapeshifter gave one last charge. Kyra took the challenge and ran towards him. As he gave his last effort to punch her, she ducked under his arm and punched him 8 times in the ribs. Kyra finished her assault with a kick to the chest and her victim was sent hurling into the wall.  
  
"Kyra has knocked Shapeshifter out of the ring. 1. .2. .3. ." Koto called out the numbers, but Kyra knew he wouldn't get up. "10! Victory goes to Kyra and the Urameshi Team!"  
  
Some of the crowd booed, but the overall was filled with cheer's and whistles. The poles started to go down and form back into the stage it had first been. Kyra came to a stop and walked off the arena.  
  
"WOW! That was really cool! How'd you learn to balance like that?" asked Kuwabara.  
  
"Practice," Kyra looked at Hiei, "So does my fighting fit with your approval."  
  
"I wouldn't call that a fight, he didn't even hit you," Hiei said.  
  
"That was the whole point," she said sarcastically.  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Let's hope all your battles are like that," cut in Kurama. She gave him a playful smile.  
  
"Who wants to go next?" asked Yusuke.  
  
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A/N: Hope you guys liked it! 


	6. Insecure

A/N: I would just like to share a thought with everyone. I was going through the fanfics and noticed no one ever writes about Kuwabara and Yukina, even though they hint about it. It didn't take me long to figure out why. No one wants a mental image of an ugly 6 ft idiot doing anything with a 4' ft girl. That would be absolutely scarring! R rated or not! Just thought I would share that with everyone (^_^)  
  
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Kurama, Hiei, and Yusuke all took their turns fighting. They all came out pretty much unscathed, say for Yusuke who had a few more cuts and bruises. They all headed back into the little room in the hallway. Koenma and the girls came bustling into the room with their high cheers.  
  
"You all did a marvelous job!" shouted Botan. Kyra found it undeniably annoying how they made such a big deal over a win that wasn't hard, let alone any fun. She hated preppies.  
  
"Something wrong Kyra?" asked Kayko.  
  
Kyra was quickly snapped out of her thinking, "Oh no! I was just thinking. Didn't mean to get so serious like that." Kayko merely smiled at her and ran over to Yusuke to congratulate him.  
  
They all headed up to the highest ramp of the stadium to watch the other fights. "You guys go without me, I have to go back to the room to get something," Kyra said hurrying away. They just watched her as she ran from the stadium and continued up. Kurama had a nervous feeling about it though.  
  
As they reached the top, their friends from the Rokuyukai team met them, yet again.  
  
"I'm glad ta see you've gottn' a lot stronger dan' da last time we fought Urameshi," said a cheerful Jin.  
  
"Kyra wasn't too bad either," commented Chu, "say, were is the little missy?"  
  
"She said she had to get something from the hotel," answered Kurama. Chu looked a little disappointed and let out a sigh. They all laughed (except for Hiei of course) and talked as they waited for the fight to start.  
  
15 minutes later, during the second fight, they heard footsteps behind them. They turned to see Kyra coming out of the dark passage way with her brown sack slung around left shoulder and resting on her right hip.  
  
"That was fast," said Shizuru. Kyra gave a big smiled.  
  
"How's the fight?" Kyra asked.  
  
"Not to exciting at the moment," Kurama said.  
  
"We fight who ever wins, right?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Well then I think I'm just going to just go walk around the forest or somethin'."  
  
"You don't want to try to learn anything from watching?"  
  
"Naa, that would ruin the surprise. Besides, learning things that don't interest me is so boring. Kurama you really got stop studying things, it makes you look like a nerd." Kurama's cheeks turned a mild red at her comment. Snickering could be heard from the other fighters.  
  
"I'll see you guys later," Kyra said as she walked down the passageway. Kurama turned to watch the fight, arms crossed and still blushing.  
  
"Jees Kurama, don't think I've ever seen you blush like that," teased Yusuke. He only turned redder and they only laughed harder.  
  
They all turned back to the stage, now in the middle of it's third fight. Rinku turned to say something to Chu, but found that he wasn't there. "Chu?" he asked looking around.  
  
"Hey," Rinku said to no one in particular, "where did Chu go?" His teammates looked at him and then their surroundings only to discover that he wasn't there. They all looked at each other thinking the same. He must have gone after Kyra when they weren't looking.  
  
"Oh no," cried Rinku shaking his head. "I'm going to go look for him," he said hurrying off. Hiei happened to glance at them as they were talking and watched as Rinku darted away. When he noticed that Chu was gone, he knew what had happened.  
  
Hiei nudged Kurama, who looked down at him. "I think you should go after Kyra," Hiei told him.  
  
"Why?" Kurama asked.  
  
"Because Chu's missing." Kurama glanced over at the team to see that Chu and Rinku were both gone. He could guess where he was heading.  
  
After a minute of thinking, Kurama spoke, "I'm not going after her." Hiei looked at him a little surprised.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I think we can both agree that Chu is a bit 'touchy' and I don't want to be around when he gets too close. If you think Kayko or Botan is scary when they get mad, just think about what a girl with spirit energy is like upset." Hiei thought about the possibility. Though he never acted scared when the girls got angry, he was. Even though he didn't really know Kyra, the thought of her getting angry sent chills down his spine. Hiei only nodded in agreement.  
  
Meanwhile, Kyra was walking through the woods listening to her walkman. Knowing most demons were watching the fight, she wasn't too wary of running into one, though she kept her guard up like always.  
  
About half a mile away from the stadium she felt a presence following her. Kyra turned the volume down low to see if she could hear anything, but she didn't. Kyra kept going at the pace she was going now, for she wasn't going to do anything unless her stalker did first. Inch by inch he got closer until he was right behind her.  
  
He made his move, his hands aiming for her lower area. CSH! He was elbowed right in the nose, his hands inches away from her butt. He fell backwards onto the ground, holding his nose. Kyra spun around and dug the heel of her foot into his stomach.  
  
Chu could easily see the anger in her face and tried to give an innocent smile. "Fancy meeting you out here." That only caused her to bring her foot up and thrust it into his side. Air escaped his lungs as he rolled over onto his side.  
  
"I'm only going to tell you this one more time. Stay away from me. Not only am I out of you league, but also I could tear you into a million pieces. Next time I won't be so gentle with my punishment." Kyra walked away as he lay on the ground clutching his ribs. It wasn't until she was gone that he sat up and wiped the blood away from his now broken nose. He laughed as thoughts of how he could be 'punished' for next time.  
  
That was how Rinku found him. When he had asked what had happened he said nothing, only smiled and held his nose to try to stop it from bleeding. Rinku lead him back to the arena where everyone was waiting. They were standing outside as demons flooded out, for the fight had ended. They looked at Chu, blood slowly coming from his nose.  
  
"What da hell happened ta you?" asked Jin. Chu smiled and blushed.  
  
"I asked him the same thing after I found him like this and he didn't tell me nothin'" replied Rinku.  
  
Kurama smirked. He could guess what happened. It didn't take a genius. It seemed the others guessed too by the way they smirked and snickered.  
  
"So what do we do now that the fights over?" asked Kuwabara.  
  
"I'm sure you can find some way to entertain yourself," Yusuke said sarcastically. As the two were arguing, Hiei took off into one of the trees, leaping from one to another deeper into the forest. Kurama followed shortly after, only walking instead. Kurama soon lost sight of Hiei, but knowing they were out of sight of their friends, he started to run in his direction.  
  
'Where is he going?' thought Kurama. He soon started sensing Kyra's energy and knew. Soon enough he caught up to Hiei who was sitting in a tree. Kurama followed his line of sight to see Kyra in a clearing, leaning against a tree. She was writing in a black leather bound book. Kurama started to walk towards her and Hiei gave him a glare. He ignored, knowing very well the Kyra had already sensed the two.  
  
Kurama walked over to Kyra and took a seat in front of her. She didn't look up from her book, which she was furiously writing in. Not stopping her writing she spoke, "Is Hiei stalking me, or is he just curious?"  
  
Kurama laughed. He turned towards the tree Hiei was in and motioned with his hand for him to come down. Kyra glanced with her eyes, not moving her head as Hiei jumped down from the tree. As he came closer she could see he wasn't too happy. Kurama asked him, "Kyra wants to know if you're stalking her or if you're just curious?" A light blush appeared on his face and he sounded as if he had choked on his spit. Kyra had to put a hand to mouth to keep herself from laughing.  
  
"I'm not doing either," he managed to say.  
  
"Well you're obviously fascinated with me if you keep following me everywhere," Kyra said trying to control her amusement.  
  
"Hn.. . .I wouldn't call it fascinated," Hiei returned.  
  
"It's not my fault you're insecure about your surroundings." Kyra smiled at her comeback.  
  
"I'm not insecure. . ." Hiei said, trying to refrain from yelling.  
  
"Kurama, is Hiei insecure?"  
  
"Don't bring me into this!" Kurama stammered. Kyra laughed and closed the book locking the clasp. Hiei looked at the book.  
  
"What is that?" he asked, totally changing the subject.  
  
"It's sort of like an address book. I meet a lot of new people, so when I do I write a page about them in this book so I remember who they are."  
  
"How many people are in there?" asked Kurama.  
  
"Oh. .I'd say between 50 to 100. I don't really know, I lost track a long time ago." They starred in aw. They'd need a book like that too if they knew that many people.  
  
"I take it the fight's over." They nodded. "Don't tell me who won, I want it to be a surprise." Kyra stood up. "I'm going to go listen to my music and finish writing. I'll catch up with you guys later." She started to walk away and they watched her go.  
  
"Kurama?"  
  
"Yes Hiei?"  
  
"Am I really insecure." Hiei's question caught him a little off guard.  
  
"I wouldn't call it insecure. You're more. . .cautious, that's all." Hiei sat silent. 


	7. Tell me

A/N: Thanks for reviewing! Whoo-hoo! Good times. . .lol ( Anyways, keep reading!  
  
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Shortly after Kyra had left, Hiei went off on his own, leaving Kurama standing by himself. After he'd responded to his question he gave a 'hn' and left. This time it was in a different direction than Kyra. Now would be the perfect time to talk to her alone. Kurama took off in her direction.  
  
He found her standing, back to him. "It's about time," she said. Kurama smiled. It still surprised him how she was always on top of things. Kyra probably made herself alone so they could talk.  
  
Kurama walked so he was standing next to her and sat down and she followed. "Sorry if I angered your friend, but I didn't like that fact that he was on my case," Kyra started. "I don't know what I'd do if he found out too much."  
  
Kurama glanced at her as she said this. He hoped that they weren't thinking the same things. Deciding to change the subject he said, "So any news on your dark enemies?"  
  
"No, not yet." Kurama waited, thinking she was going to say more, but she didn't.  
  
"That's it? You're usually more talkative." He smiled trying to make it seem like a joke even though he was really curious as to why.  
  
"Kurama, Hiei tried reading my mind." Kurama looked at her surprised as she continued on. "It was with his Jagan Eye, and yes I knew what it was by the way it works. I was able to stop him with my own abilities as a physic." She stopped, still having not looked at him.  
  
Kurama thought about it. Was he that desperate to know? If Hiei thought he knew something, what would stop him from reading his mind? Kurama contemplated over this new dilemma. They both just sat there, thinking.  
  
Finally, Kyra broke the silence. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, he doesn't seem like that kind of guy." Then she smiled to herself, "Of course, I don't really know him."  
  
Kurama didn't say anything. By now he was laying in his back looking up towards the sky. He had a lot of thoughts running through his head all at once, and he needed to sort them out. Not to mention he felt that she wasn't telling him something. Kurama thought back to last night's conversation and figured this would be a good time as any to talk about it.  
  
"Kyra, what exactly did you do when you left last night?"  
  
She turned to look at him. "Oh, I told you, I was talking to one of my friends."  
  
"Yeah, I know that, but what exactly did you talk about?"  
  
"I guess it isn't going to hurt to tell you, since Hiei ratted me out."  
  
"How'd you know?"  
  
"Your tone of voice, and the way you keep digging. I should know, I do it all the time." Kyra gave him a quick smile. "The man I was talking to was Mr.Franc, and he's French. He's one of the bettors. I was asking him a couple of questions and found that he has access to some of the secret areas. I was able to get the keys from him and make extras; they're sitting in my room. Then I had to go return them to him."  
  
"Does this have anything do with the Dark Assailants?"  
  
"What!? No way!" she said jokingly, "This is just for me. I'm gonna have a little fun while I'm here. You know what it's like here: boring, dull, and obviously stupid. You might even regret bringing me, 'cause I'm gonna turn this place upside down." Kyra gave a huge smile, laughing at herself.  
  
Kurama laughed. He could only guess what she would do. Then a thought came to him. "You aren't going to embarrass our team, are you?"  
  
Kyra looked him in the eye, the smile still there. "Now Kurama, would I do a thing like that?" she said teasingly.  
  
"Yes, you would."  
  
She couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry, I won't embarrass you or your teammates. I might do something to myself, but I won't be embarrassed by it. If anything, it'll be for my opponents. You know how I like to mess with people. It's just too funny seeing them get all upset and start blushing."  
  
"You've got to be one of the evilest people I know. Everything you do is much more scarring than people think."  
  
"Aww. . .you're too nice."  
  
They sat there awhile laughing and joking around. Soon they heard footsteps approaching and stopped to look who it was. They saw Jin and Touya approaching them. The two fighters stopped in front of them.  
  
"I thought you guys were talking to Yusuke and the others?" asked Kurama, now sitting up.  
  
"We were, but then they left to do something and we all split up, going on our own," replied Touya. "What are you two up to?"  
  
"Just hangin' out and talkin'," Kyra said, "Why don't you two sit down and chill with us?"  
  
Touya sat in front of Kurama and Jin in front of Kyra. They all just sat there relaxing, not saying anything. Jin noticed that Kyra was staring at him.  
  
"What?" Jin asked, one of his fangs showing.  
  
She smiled. "I like your ears," giggling a bit. He wiggled them, half to show her, half because her comment made him happy. Kyra decided she was going to have some fun with him without telling.  
  
"Stick out your tongue and touch your forehead," she commanded him.  
  
"That's impossible," Jin said.  
  
"No it's not. Watch." Kyra stuck out her tongue and touched her forehead with her finger. "See, told ya."  
  
Jin laughed. "Now that's not fair! You didn't tell me dat was a trick question," he said.  
  
Kyra had to try to keep herself from laughing. His accent was hilarious! OMG, she thought she was going to have a seizure.  
  
"What's so funny?" he asked.  
  
"Nothing," she managed to get out between giggles. If he said one more word, she wouldn't be able to control herself.  
  
"Well notin' must be pretty funny if you're laughing dat hard," Jin said back to her. That was all he had to say to send her into a laughing hysteria. She fell onto her back clutching her sides and gasping for air. The three guys just stared at her as she fought for control over her laughter.  
  
"What's wrong with her?" asked Touya.  
  
"Haven't a clue," said Kurama. Kyra was able to get some control back, sitting back up and wiping away tears.  
  
"You guys are gonna think I'm really mean, but honestly, I tried not to laugh," Kyra started to say.  
  
"Was it something he said?" asked Kurama.  
  
"No, it's just the way he talks. I'm sorry, but it's really funny. You sound Irish. I guess I never really paid to much attention to you to listen to you talk. I couldn't help it." Kyra was letting out short, muffled laughs.  
  
"Is that it?" Jin asked, "Here I was tinking I did sometin stupid!"  
  
"Oh no, if you had done something stupid I would have made fun of you for doing it, not just start laughing."  
  
Jin laughed, "I'll keep dat in mind."  
  
Kurama was shaking his head. "What is it?" Touya asked him.  
  
"I should of known why she was laughing. She's so immature like that," Kurama responded.  
  
"I thought you two were together."  
  
"We aren't 'together', but we do go to the same school."  
  
"I've heard of those. Schools are those places human kids go to to learn, right?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Aren't you done with that yet? How many years do you have to go?"  
  
"This is our senior year, or last year. We'll graduate in May. But most people go to college for about 4 more years. It's pretty much just like school, but if affects you career a lot more."  
  
"Hn, this school thing sounds really complicated."  
  
"Not really. Having grown up as a human, it's pretty easy to understand."  
  
"Humans always do things the hard way. Fighting would solve things much easier. Why do you put up with it?"  
  
"Since I've grown up as a human, I've become accustomed with their beliefs and traditions. You know it's really not that bad. They have a lot of things demons don't have. Most demons only hear about all the bad things about humans, most don't get to meet good ones like Kyra and me. Yusuke and Kuwabara aren't bad either."  
  
Touya was intrigued by his statement. "What kind of good things," he asked.  
  
"Well, humans believe in true love, and most do find it, even if it is just for awhile. And they're generally happy, although some can be depressed. Another thing is that it is believed that everyone is truly good at heart. Even if what they're doing is bad, they believe they are doing it for the right reason." (That quote is from Anne Frank's Diary. We're learning about the holocaust in English)  
  
Touya listened to what he said. It was true, demons usually only heard the bad about humans, not the good. But still, they had a lot of emotions, and that clouded judgment and made you weak. He may have new information, but that didn't sway his idea of them.  
  
They watched as Kyra and Jin goofed around. It was weird to Touya how well they got along. He wondered what kind of opponent she was in the ring.  
  
Suddenly they heard a ring. They all looked at Kyra's bag, where the noise seemed to be coming from. She dug into it bringing out another metal item that seemed to be giving off a blue light. Kyra flipped up a sort of lid, pushed a button and then put it to her ear.  
  
"Hello?" she asked. There was a pause. "Excuse me, I have to take this call," and she hurried off to some trees.  
  
"What just happened?" asked Jin.  
  
"That was her cell phone. It's just like regular phones but they're portable. She has a really nice one, though I'm surprised she gets reception out here." The two shinobies just looked at him confused. He gave a sigh; this was going to be complicated.  
  
"It's just a phone you can walk around with, that's the important part." They nodded, seeming to understand.  
  
While Kurama was trying to explain what a cell phone was, Kyra was talking to one of her good, and important friends.  
  
"Hey TJ, what's up?"  
  
"Not much. Hope I didn't bother you." The voice on the other line was low and manly. It belonged to the man Mr. T, one of the top Japan government officials in the crime department.  
  
"Oh no, don't worry about it. Got any news for me."  
  
"I'm afraid you won't be too happy with our results. It seems your reports weren't enough to bring up any matching descriptions. But I do have some good news."  
  
"What, you just saved a bunch of money on your car insurance by switching to Gieco?"  
  
The man laughed on the other end. "No, but I did get those weapons you wanted. When do you think you could pick them up?"  
  
"How's tomorrow night?"  
  
"Sounds good. I'll meet you in our usual spot. See you then. Tj over and out."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Kyra hung up the phone.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N: Ok, I don't really know the government system of Japan, but that's where they are, and that's who he is. So. . .don't think I'm stupid or anything, just go with flow (hey that should be a song. . .Go with the flow, just go with the flow) lol (^_^) 


	8. Exploring

When Kyra returned from her phone call, she found Kurama waiting by himself for her.  
  
"Where'd they go?" she asked.  
  
"They said they were going to go find their team and talk or something," Kurama answered. "Who was it that called?"  
  
"That was a good friend of mine. I asked him to do some research for me on the Dark Assailants and he was calling back with the results. Unfortunately, he hadn't found anything."  
  
"Hm. . I'm not surprised." Kyra walked over to Kurama and sat down next to him. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her head on her knees, sighing.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked.  
  
"I just have a lot to think about, that's all."  
  
"You wanna talk about it."  
  
"Na, we'd be here till tomorrow. Besides, it's nothing really important." Kyra gave him a smile. "Come on, lets go find the others." They got up and went to find their team.  
  
****************************  
  
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. They just relaxed and talked to some other people. Kyra had gotten a chance to be by herself and had taken the opportunity to write in her diary. On her way back to the hotel, she caught a glimpse of the Spirit Demons team. One of them looked her way, but she turned away and hurried on.  
  
Once back in the room, the girls again played cards. Tonight, Kyra was going to go explore with her keys. She just had to wait until everyone went to sleep. Finally they left and everyone said their goodnights.  
  
Kyra went into her room and locked the door behind her. She lay on the bed and looked at the clock. 10:23. She'd have to wait at least until midnight. Kyra took out her cell phone and turned on the alarm. It would vibrate when she should wake up. Placing it along he belt of her pants so she would feel the vibration, she started to fall asleep.  
  
12:00 on the dot, the phone vibrated against her skin. Kyra woke up in the position she had fallen asleep in: sprawled out on the bed. Silently, she got up and moved over to her stuff. An expert at stealth, she wasn't afraid of being discovered, but she was wary non the less. Kyra collected her 'goodies' into her brown sack and changed her outfit.  
  
Kyra now wore loose black pants that tied at the waist and a skintight black shirt that fit around collar and wrists. Finishing her look off with a pair of simple black socks (to make less noise) she checked everything over. Everything worked in her bag and Kyra made sure that her bracelets were secure. She only took them off when she needed to because they helped with her training. Last but not least she looked at the wooden necklace the she wore. It was a big oval with a black rope to loop around her neck. Inside the block of wood lay her crystal angel necklace that she never took off. Afraid someone would notice and reveal her true self, she had hid it away in the block.  
  
Kyra opened the window without a noise. Peering out, she jumped out of the three story tall hotel and landed silently on the grass below. Looking back up, she could see Hiei in a window, but he was asleep. Using her skills, she dashed to the front of the building.  
  
Knowing no one was in sight, Kyra glided through the forest to the arena. She wondered if they had a security system, but decided if they did, it wouldn't be that hard to get past. Honestly, how many demons would sneak in, let alone try to disarm anything technical. As she reached her destination, she found demon guards around the area, but they were all pretty much asleep.  
  
Kyra tiptoed past them, sneaking into the dark hallway. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her sunglasses. She pushed a small button that you wouldn't know was there unless you were told, causing the lenses to glow green. The mode was now in night vision so she could see. Kyra often thanked the gods for human technology, and especially for her friend Wire, who was an inventor of gadgets. She often went to him for gizmos; that was why all her stuff was more advanced.  
  
As she passed through another hallway, she came upon more guards, but they too had dozed off. 'This is too easy,' she thought to herself. Making her way to the top level, Kyra came upon a door that she knew led to the bettors' booth. Kyra tried one of the two keys and unlocked the door. Stepping in, the door clicked shut behind her and she looked around with her shades.  
  
Searching every area, there was nothing to be discovered or to search in. It was nothing but a sitting area for them to view the fights. Tomorrow she would come back with her weapons from TJ and set up a camera or something to spy on them. But until then, she snuck back out of the room, locking it behind her. Onwards with her search, she came across another door; this one leading to the judges area. They also controlled all the lights and equipment in this area.  
  
Kyra tried her keys again and was happy to find that they also worked for this area. Upon entering, she was greeted with light flashing from all the equipment. Pulling out her camera from her bag and switching that too to night vision, she began to record her surroundings. This way Kyra would remember what switches did what and what she would need to alter things to her needs. Glad to find that this place had more drawers to search through, she recorded everything she found. Making sure to put everything back the way she had found it, Kyra began to leave.  
  
This place was huge and she did her best to hurry down to the lower levels. She didn't use any spirit energy, say for jumping out of the window and running. For everything else she had to rely on her skills as a human so she wouldn't be sensed.  
  
Kyra thought that there was a basement level, but found none. 'It must be back at the hotel,' she thought to herself. Hurrying past the guards, back to outside, she ran through the forest, quieter than a cloud.  
  
Coming upon the hotel she slowed down to her human speed, which was still pretty fast. Kyra went up to the automatic doors and passed through as they opened. Quickly, she searched the area, testing each door on the 1st level. Finally she found the one that led down to the lower level. Suddenly, she felt a presence closing in. Having nowhere else to go, Kyra stepped through the door and locked it behind her, resting on the steps. Putting her ear to the door, she listened for any footsteps that might come her way. From what she could tell, there were two people, but no words were exchanged between the two.  
  
Kyra took a quiet, deep breath. 'Mine as well go down,' she thought. As if floating down the stairs, she came upon another dark hallway. 'Why am I not surprised?' Kyra made a quick glance at her clock that displayed itself on the inside of her lenses. 12:31. That wasn't too bad. Feeling no rush, she walked through the dark alleyway.  
  
It seemed that it only led to one big open room. Inside this room she found a bar, a large sitting area, a TV, a bet keeper stand, a sealed off cupboard and a safe. Starting at one end of the room, she walked over to the bar. When she tried opening it up, Kyra was surprised it had been locked off. Pulling out to picks, she was able to unlock it. 'If Kurama was still in his demon form, he might actually be proud of me instead of angry.' A large smile found it's way to her face at the thought. Kyra looked at the selection within the bar.  
  
'There's some pretty good stuff in here. They must import.' Locking the bar back up, she moved over to the sitting area. Kyra took a seat on one of the leather couches and gazed at the large screen TV. 'They must watch the fights from down here. . .that or porn.' Inwardly smiling to herself, she took out her camera and scanned over the room with it. Still holding it, she walked the bet keeper's area. It too had drawers locked away, but was easily opened by her skilled hand and picks. There were 3 drawers in all. One opened to reveal papers.  
  
Kyra pulled the papers out and looked them over. They showed who owned what team, who betted on them and how much. She switched her camera from video to picture and took one for every sheet; 15 in all. The next drawer contained extra keys, slips etc. Kyra took one set of keys and looked them over. The seemed to be the same as her's, 'cept for one which she made a double of with the soap she brought. Relocking the two drawers she opened, Kyra unlocked the third; which was more like a small door. Inside was the safe. Kyra sat there for 5 minutes, trying to figure out the code, succeeding. The contents of the safe were that of money. It must have been money from the bettors for safekeeping.  
  
'Well so much for keeping it safe,' though Kyra. Not seeing any point in taking anything, she closed up the safe and locked the small door.  
  
Last but no least, she walked over to the cupboard. Unlocking this as well, Kyra revealed four shelves. Each one held several weapons. Kyra took out a couple of them, examining them over and recording it with her camera. There were pistols, shotguns, bombs, walkie-talkies, and all of different kinds of things. 'Hn, a little insecure, aren't they?' From her knowledge of this sort of thing (and she knew a lot about packing heat), she could tell they weren't very good. At least not like the stuff she was use to using. Most of this stuff wouldn't work on any creature with ki.  
  
Replacing the contents on the shelves in their original position, she closed and locked the doors. Kyra hurried back through the hallway, but not after first checking to make sure she hadn't left a trace of herself. Making her way to the cement steps she hurried up. Kyra checked to see if she could sense or hear anyone. When she was sure no one was there she unlocked the door and stepped out.  
  
Kyra locked the door behind her and rushed out of the hotel. Running to the back of the building, she stood under her window. Hiei was still fast asleep in his window. She jumped up onto the open window, locking that too behind her. Kyra set her bag down and changed back into her pajamas. She wasn't really tired, but knew she should get the sleep when she could. Only gods knew if she would be able to get full night sleeps for a while.  
  
********************************  
  
Kyra woke up the next morning to a bright sun. She grunted at the brightness. Looking at the clock that read 9:00, she decided to get up.  
  
Kyra was ready by 9:45, after hopping in the shower and then doing everything else. She grabbed her bag and walked out of the room, hair flying freely behind her to dry.  
  
As she entered the living area, she was greeted by several voices. The girls and Koenma were already up and over, ready for the next day.  
  
"Good morning," she said sleepily. Kyra sat down next to Kurama on the couch, ignoring the food cart that they had already helped themselves to.  
  
"You slept longer than Urameshi," teased Kuwabara, resulting in a couple of laughs from the others. Kyra wasn't completely up yet, so she just ignored him, digging through her bag.  
  
"Something wrong?" asked Kurama. Kyra looked up at him, confused as to why he would ask.  
  
"No, I'm just not awake yet. I'm always slow in the morning. Unless I have to fight," Kyra finished with a small smile.  
  
Kyra pulled out her camera and checked it over to make sure she hadn't damaged it in last night's exploration. Putting it away, she asked, "Who's fighting today?"  
  
"There's going to be 3 fights today," Kurama said handing the sheet to her. Quickly checking over the list, she noted that the Dark Assailants were in the second match. Handing the sheet back Kurama, Kyra got up and grabbed a plate of breakfast.  
  
Around noon they headed towards the arena for the fights. The stands were already packed with demons as they waited for the fights to begin. Soon, the announcer called the two teams to the stage.  
  
The fight wasn't too exciting, one team being much better than the other. It was quickly over. The announcer then called for the next two teams to appear.  
  
Kyra whipped out her camera. She scooted away from the group, looking for the best spot. When she found it, she was in between her team and the Spirit Demon team. They looked at her as she focused her camera.  
  
"What's she doing?" Toran asked his father.  
  
"I'm not sure. Must be a human thing," Kye responded. Toran nodded and turned back to the fight.  
  
Kyra, had at that time, zoomed in and got a good image of the DA team. Each one stepped into the ring and easily defeated their opponents. Not one of them had been hurt, and the other team lay dead. . .all of them.  
  
There was an uproar from the crowd and they started chanting for the winning team. One of the members, who was announced as the leader, starred up at Kyra. With her standing by herself, it was easy to see she was the object of his gaze.  
  
Kyra could feel her anger rising. She had learned absolutely nothing, and now he was already telling everyone that she was his victim. As if she was going to let that happen.  
  
Closing the lid on her camera, she stormed away from the annoying glare into the hallway. "Fuckin' pissing me off. God damn bastards," she mumbled under her breath. They watched as she left and Kurama followed after. He found her next to the wall, back to him.  
  
"Kyra are you ok?" he asked.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN 'AM I OK?'! OF COURSE I'M NOT OK!" Kyra slammed her fist into the wall leaving a big hole in the process. She stormed out the hallway and Kurama followed, knowing the last thing he should do was to leave her alone so she couldn't start trouble.  
  
"Don't you think we should go after them?" asked Kayko  
  
"Just leave them. It's obvious she needs time to cool off. Kurama can handle it," stated Hiei. They all nodded and waited for the next fight to start.  
  
By that time, the two teams had cleared out, another two replacing them.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
A/N: See how short tempered she is!? Looks like things are starting to pick up! (^_^) 


	9. Relax and watch

A/N: Well........I haven't gotten anymore reviews *sighs* But, if you don't care........well, that can't be helped (hint, hint) (^_^) On with the story!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Kyra raged through the building, cautiously followed by Kurama. Her fists were clenched, teeth gritted. The demon guards quickly stepped out of her way as she passed.  
  
When the two reached outside, the crowd of demons that had to watch from the outside starred in terror. They walked into the forest and Kurama decided that it was now or never.  
  
"Kyra stop," he commanded, putting a hand on her shoulder. She swung around, flames flickering in her eyes. A sweat drop fell down the side of his face, but he stood his ground.  
  
"You need to calm down," Kurama said calmly. Kyra only clenched her fists more and he thought she was going to hit him. Instead she walked over to a tree, pulled her fist back, and yelled as she slammed it into the tree. It broke on contact and was sent to the ground.  
  
Kyra took a couple of deep breaths, but she was still furious inside. Because of her blinded attack, she now had three splinters in her hand and it was slightly bleeding. She grunted, annoyed that he had gotten to her. "Those motherfuckers," she muttered under her breath.  
  
Kurama saw she needed to just sit down and breath, not attack anything she could. He came up behind her and grabbed her by the arm. As he dragged her deeper into the forest, she continued to grunt and cuss under her breath. Finally he came to a clearing, a good distance between them and the stadium.  
  
Kurama sat down, bringing her with him. He had smelled the blood on her. "Do you have any medical supplies in there," he asked, eyeing the bag and holding her injured hand. She removed the sling from around her neck and passed the bag to him. Not letting go of her hand, he rummaged through it. Finally he came across a small bag with a red cross on it. He handed the bag back to Kyra, who just let it lay at her side.  
  
They both had their legs crossed, facing each other. Kurama had found some antiseptic, gauze and tweezers in the bag and started cleaning the self- inflicted wound. Kyra leaned on her left hand, which was supported by her knee. He occasionally glanced up at her, but she continued to look away. Neither of them talked.  
  
As he was cleaning the wound, he noticed that it was already starting to heal on it's own. After he had pulled out the splinters, the holes started to get smaller. He skillfully cleaned the cuts with antiseptic. "Don't bother bandaging that, it'll heal within the hour," Kyra stated.  
  
Kurama put the supplies away and handed the bag back to Kyra. When she ignored him, he set it next to her other bag. Now she was starting to piss him off. In an act to get her attention, he slapped her injured knuckles. "OOW! What's your problem?!" she screamed.  
  
"My problem! You're the one all pissed off for nothing!" now Kurama's voice was loud. He was still holding her hand and she tried to pull it away, but he held on firmly. He stared at her, telling her that he was pissed now.  
  
She grunted. Kyra pulled at her hand again, but he still wouldn't let go. She returned his glare until she could think of something to say.  
  
"I'm not pissed for nothing. I was trying to prevent anyone from knowing that I was an enemy to the Dark Assailants, but I guess that's not going to happen, now it is it!?" Her voice grew louder towards the end of her sentence.  
  
"That doesn't mean you have to go storming off and throw a fit just because they know," he said, doing his best to keep his voice calm. He hated it when she rubbed off onto him. Kurama looked at the hand he was holding because she wouldn't look at him. She was holding something back and he wanted to know what it was.  
  
Gently he massaged the bruised hand with his thumbs. It was soft from lotion, but he knew it could still deliver a punch. It some how relieved his tension. Kyra looked back to him as he focused on massaging the hand. She started to feel guilty for lashing out at him when all he wanted to do was help.  
  
Kyra brought her knees up to under her chin and stared at the hand. "Sorry," she said quietly, but loud enough for him to hear.  
  
"It's ok," he said not looking up, "just tell me what else is bothering you."  
  
Kyra sat and thought over what to say. In the end, she figured she should just tell him the truth, whichever way it came out. "You could say I'm experiencing some conflicting emotions right now. They give me a really bad vibe, if you know what I mean." She spoke just above a whisper, as if to only let him hear and no one else. Kurama turned her hand over, so the palm was facing up, and massaged that part along with her fingers. He hoped it was helping to keep her calmed down. Kyra went on, "Not to mention that Spirit Demon team."  
  
Kurama looked up in surprised. "What about them?" He'd half forgotten they were one of the teams.  
  
"I've noticed that they keep glancing at me. Like they're suspicious of something, but I don't know what." Kyra slapped herself mentally. It hurt to lie to Kurama, but if she told him the truth.........she was afraid of what he might say or do.  
  
Kurama stared at her. He honestly hadn't noticed. What could they want? Did they maybe know something about her?  
  
Kyra didn't like his silence. She wanted him to tell her something, give advice like he usually did. Sometimes she regretted telling him so much about herself because when she wanted to hide things from him, she knew he would eventually put 2 and 2 together.  
  
Since neither of them had anything else to say, Kyra stood up. "Kurama, follow me. There's something I want to show you." He got up as she flung her bag over shoulder, replacing the medical bag. Kyra led him back to the hotel and they headed up to their room.  
  
Once they were inside, Kurama asked, "What is it?"  
  
"You'll see. Help me pull the TV out." He did what she asked and she pulled out her camera and a couple of cords. She undid all the cords except for the one that plugged into the wall. Kyra replaced the cable cord with one of her red ones. Next, she inserted the end of her red cord into a junction at the end of a smaller black cord. Last she stuck the small end of the black cord into the bottom of her camera.  
  
Kyra scooted back to in front of the TV and Kurama followed. They leaned against the back of one of the couches. Kyra turned on her camera. The camera and TV screen read 'LOADING'. In a matter of seconds a picture appeared on both screens.  
  
"Last night I went around with those keys I told you about. I recorded where I went and this is what I found. I know I said it wasn't for the Dark Assailants, but now I think it might just come in handy," explained Kyra. Kurama kept his eyes focused on the TV.  
  
"First I went into the bettors' area at the stadium, but it was nothing but a room with chairs. Next, I went to the judges' area where they keep all the equipment. That's what's on the screen now." Kurama only nodded as he watched the TV. It showed where the judges sat and the lights from the control panels. He watched with curiosity, almost wishing he had gone with so he could feel the thrill again. A smile made a way to his lips, but he quickly caught it.  
  
"There wasn't really anything in there that was helpful, just a bunch of buttons. Of course..........they could come in handy if I want to have some fun." She smiled to herself.  
  
"My friend told me about this room," Kyra said as she started to fast- forward. "It's a basement floor under this hotel. I'm guessing it's only for humans because I didn't find any hint of demon there."  
  
The screen stopped and scanned around a room. Then it headed towards a metal desk. Kurama watched with earnests as she opened drawers. Suddenly the video stopped and it showed a picture of a piece of paper.  
  
"What happened?" asked Kurama confused.  
  
"I found some documents and took pictures of them instead of taping them. Hold on." Kyra fiddled with some buttons and the picture unblurred.  
  
"They're lists of teams and bettors and all that stuff." She scanned through the pictures until she came to one. It read as follows:  
  
Team: DA  
Owner: Mr. Shigoki  
Bets on team: 8  
Total amount: 97 billion  
Members: 1 2 3 4 5 ETC.  
  
"That's got to be just shy of half of the bettors," commented Kurama. Kyra nodded.  
  
"Any idea who this Mr. Shigoki is?" she asked.  
  
"No, but I think you should pay him a visit." He turned and smiled at her. She returned the look. Kyra had a sudden urge to lean her head on his shoulder, but fought for control over it. They continued to look at the pictures.  
  
Kyra and Kurama looked over each one quickly. They looked at the Spirit Demon team and then Kyra clicked to the next one.  
  
"Wait, go back" demanded Kurama. She glanced at him quick and then clicked back once.  
  
Kurama started to read the list of team members and information listed about them. Maybe there was some connection between them and Kyra.  
  
"I doubt we'll learn anything from this picture, let's just go on," she urged. If he read too much, she was afraid he would put 2 and 2 together real soon.  
  
"You never know what you might find."  
  
Kyra sensed people coming up the stairs and she reached over and yanked the red cord out. "What's wrong?" Kurama asked, somewhat annoyed that she had unexpectedly stopped.  
  
"Someone's coming," Kyra blurted out, replacing the other cords. Just as she was pushing the TV back, the door opened. In strolled the gang, minus Hiei.  
  
"Hey guys," greeted Kurama. Kyra was shoving her camera and cords back into her bag.  
  
"Yo," returned Yusuke, "Hiei just left to look for you guys, I think. He didn't really say where he was going, he just sort of left."  
  
"We should go find him then," Kyra said to Kurama. "No need for him to wander around when we're right here." The two got up and left.  
  
"We'll be back in a little bit," Kurama said to the others as they walked out the door.  
  
"Well I think she's calmed down," stated Kuwabara.  
  
"I wonder what happened between those two?" Botan said out loud to no one in particular.  
  
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A/N: Well that's all for now! REVIEW! 


	10. Unanswered questions

A/N: THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! You know I love it ;-)  
  
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Kyra and Kurama walked out into the forest looking for Hiei. Neither of them spoke about the events that happened in the hotel room. Kurama was still pondering over the information. He suspected something, but he'd have to think on it first.  
  
Half an hour later they started to close in on Hiei's ki. They saw him sitting in a tree, eyes shut. They flung open as the two approached him.  
  
"Greetings Hiei," called out Kurama. He didn't respond.  
  
"Yusuke and the others said you were looking for us," Kurama continued. When the fire demon failed to comply again, Kyra turned to Kurama.  
  
"What's up his ass?" She said, smiling. Kurama had to do his best not to smile as the demon looked down at them, his cheeks tinted with redness. Hiei still didn't move from his spot.  
  
"Ok, have it your way. I'm going," Kyra said, walking away. Kurama waited until she left before climbing into the tree, sitting across from the demon.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked.  
  
"Hn. What makes you think I'm upset?" Hiei responded.  
  
"She's gone, you can tell me," Kurama coaxed. Hiei never was one for opening up, but he still needed to try. Luckily for him, his friend wanted some answers.  
  
"Why did she react the way she did to those fighters?" he asked.  
  
Kurama was hesitant to answer. He didn't want to keep the secret from Hiei, but again he felt the need to...sort of protect her. Choosing his words carefully, the fox spoke, "They are old acquaintances, and not on the best of terms."  
  
Hiei stared at him as if trying to look deeper. "Why do you protect her?" he finally asked.  
  
Kurama was taken back by his question. In response, he returned the glare saying, "I don't know if I would call it protecting her. I'm just trying to satisfy your need to know with out giving away too much when it isn't my place to tell. If you wish to know more, go ask her yourself; though I doubt she will tell you more than I."  
  
"What could be so important that you can't tell me?" Hiei questioned. It wasn't like Kurama to keep secrets from him, of all people. What had the bitch said...or done to him? He was now concerned and deeply puzzled.  
  
Kurama turned away and stared out into the forest. "It's not my place to tell. But...if you really want to know that bad, I'll talk to her about it."  
  
He turned his eyes back up to the demon. "Hiei, it's not that I don't want to tell you..."  
  
"...It's just not your place to tell," Hiei finished for him. The two smirked at each other.  
  
Unaware to the two fighters was the fact that Kyra was now miles away from them. When she had walked off, a sudden burst of ki energy had been sent her way, signaling for her to follow it. It stopped in a clearing, possibly a path, in the forest. From behind the trees came the five fighters from earlier.  
  
They stood in front of her forming a half circle. The middle one spoke. "Did I upset you?" he asked. His voice was somewhat high, but much colder.  
  
"Where's Solex?" Kyra asked, poker faced.  
  
"He's here, don't worry. But...if you should make it to the finals, you will be fighting me-his second in command, number one."  
  
"Why not him?"  
  
"He has his reasons, but if you need an answer it is that he wouldn't get to fight you. You are not the leader of your group, so you wouldn't have been the one to fight him. And he wants you especially."  
  
"Tell him I'm flattered," Kyra said, bringing her hand over her heart to punctuate her sarcastic manner. Number one let out an amused laugh.  
  
"I'll make sure he gets the message. Now, you didn't answer my first question."  
  
"WELL, it wasn't actually you that upset me. I tend to have violent mood swings. My parents sent me for therapy on it, but...it didn't really work out. I guess it was just bad timing." She smirked and used her eyes to challenge him behind her sunglasses.  
  
No. 1 laughed at her remark. "It seems leader was right, you are an amusing one. It would be a shame to take that away. I have no further questions." He bowed and the others followed his example. They turned around and left, walking down the worn path.  
  
Kyra watched them as they went. She fell backwards, letting out a deep breath. More questions, few answers; this was going to be one hell of a long week.  
  
As she lay on her back, she looked up at the clouds distinguishing what they looked like. Mesmerized, her eyelids became heavy, ready for a nap. Knowing it was unsafe to fall asleep in such an open area, Kyra scrambled up and walked to a near by tree. It was quite tall and she climbed to the highest area that she could onto a wide branch. She found a comfortable position in a crevice and proceeded to fall asleep.  
  
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It must have been around an hour before she woke up. Kyra was glad she had been undisturbed by any wandering pedestrians. It seemed staying out of sight and masking her energy really worked. That, or no one felt the need to bother her.  
  
After leaping down and landing safely on the ground below, she grabbed her cell phone. While walking, she dialed her friend's number. It took three wings before she answered.  
  
"Hello," came a voice a little out of breath.  
  
"Hey, what's up?!" Kyra said into the phone.  
  
"HEY! The usual, you?" asked Summer.  
  
"Sitting my ass off, bored to the bone with no one to joke around with and make fun of the many unsuspecting victims."  
  
"HOH! Had a lot of time to think about it huh?"  
  
"You have no idea." The two laughed.  
  
Kyra continued, "Well I just wanted to check up on my calls."  
  
"Aww! Don't want to talk to me?"  
  
"You know I do, but it's not safe to walk around with a cellphone. They don't even know what they are!"  
  
"Maybe you should inform them it's the 20th century." This brought yet another laugh.  
  
"Ok, so did anyone call?"  
  
"Um, some friends, but no one that be too important. You did get this one call and the guy sounded REALLY sexy. He said something about racing cars, but I told him you were totally consumed by 'work'."  
  
"Thanks," Kyra said between laughs, "I'll try to call him. I got to go, talk to you later, bye."  
  
"Bye." Summer hung up the phone and Kyra put hers away.  
  
'Dammit,' she thought, 'why'd I have to miss racing? Oh well, I'll just take it out on the sons of bitches here.'  
  
When she got back to the hotel, she found that no one was there. Kyra figured they must have been off doing their own thing. It would be the perfect time for her to go over some stuff.  
  
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A/N: I know this chpt. was a little boring, but I ran into a little writers block. So...yeah. You don't have to review for this one if you don't want, but I'll start typing the next one as soon as I'm done with this. That's all for now, ttyl. (^_^) 


	11. Late Night Visits

A/N: I'm running out of things to say...but I've developed a habit of putting something up top. Um...yeah. Ok here's the story. Sorry it took so long.  
  
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Night came on quickly for Kira. Gradually her teammates came back to the hotel room. Her things had been sprawled out all over the coffee table, but she quickly discarded them back into her brown bag before they saw. She couldn't afford to let anyone know about her plans, not even Kurama.  
  
Oddly, Kurama and Hiei didn't reappear until it was quite dark outside. She glanced at them, but passed it as nothing. The girls left earlier than the two previous nights, saying the fighters needed their rest for the fights. Kira had to be the last to go to bed. Not that that was going to be hard, seeing as she had pulled many all nighters on missions, or with her friends.  
  
11:00 and only Yusuke and Kuwabara had retired for the night. The other two, sat silent, in deep thought. Kira was writing in her diary. She was curious as to what the two demons had done to pass the time. Reading their minds would be dangerous. If they didn't go to sleep soon though, she wouldn't be able to execute her plans made earlier.  
  
Another 15 minutes and the two showed no signs of exhaustion. "I'm going to bed now," she announced, putting away her things. "See you guys in the morning," smiling at them and then shutting the door behind her.  
  
Kira whipped out her cellphone. It was too risky to actually talk for fear of being heard, so she sent a text message. A couple minutes later she got a response and was happy with it. Quietly, she put her ear to the door to see if they were talking or just sitting there. They were still awake because the light was still on. But there was no sound, except for what she thought was a door closing and then the light by the cracks of the door went out.  
  
'Did they go to sleep?' Kira thought. 'No they couldn't have. The light switch isn't by their door, so I wouldn't have heard the door click right after the light went out. They must've left the hotel room. That's why they hadn't gone to bed before me. So they'd have me think they just went to bed.' Positive that was the answer, she opened her door. No one. In her socks, she stalked over to Kurama's room. The door was unlocked and she peered in to find no one. They had left, but too soon.  
  
It was all too perfect. Yusuke and Kuwabara were in too deep of a sleep to notice she was gone. And she thought she knew where the other two had gone. If she was right, then teleporting out of here for a little while would be a synch.  
  
Checking the time on her cellphone, she hopped out the window again. She loved playing sneak, it made her adrenaline rush. She hadn't changed out of her clothes from earlier, but her hair was in a braid again. Looking around, Kira ran for the cliff by the ocean.  
  
She didn't know how much time she had exactly, but she was going to make the most of it. Hopefully, everything would go as plan. The three and a half hours she had spent alone in the room didn't go to waste. Finally, she came to the cliff surrounded by the ocean.  
  
Kira pulled out a black cloak from inside her bag and wrapped it around herself. Next, she took out her crusader like hat and put it on. The scarf had been left behind. Walking to the very edge of the cliff, she dived off. A small portal opened, allowing her to slip through to a different place. It closed immediately after all of her was through.  
  
*************************  
  
Kira landed on a tree branch. She looked around the park area, spotting the black car. Leaping down, she headed towards it. Two figures appeared from within it to greet her. One was a tall, broad-shouldered man-T.J. The other was a girl her own age, also black-Summer. A smile appeared on Kira's face as she walked towards the two friends.  
  
"What's up?" she said to the two them.  
  
"Yo...nothin'. What's up wich you?" Summer asked.  
  
Kira readjusted her hat so that she could see better. "Playing hookie. How about you T.J.?"  
  
"Work, as usual," he said in his deep, manly voice. He handed her a bag, similar to the one she had right now. "That's everything you asked for. It might take awhile to put everything together."  
  
"Thank T.J."  
  
"Explain why you had me come," started her friend.  
  
"Come on, walk with me and I'll tell you. Sorry T.J., girl talk." The broad man only smiled and went to sit in the car as the two girls walked off.  
  
They hadn't walked too far when Kira started talking. "The reason I wanted you to come was because I have something important to tell you. You see, no at this place I'm at is like you and me. You don't know how easy it is to make fun of all the demons. But I can't because they'd all try to beat me up at once and I can't to waste my time kicking your ass."  
  
"It's ok, I'm back-up," The two girls laughed at the inside joke.  
  
"I'm sure. Hey! Do you want to see pictures of them!?"  
  
"Yeah! You got 'em here?"  
  
"Yeah, hold on." Kira dug around in her bag quick, pulling out her camera. Inserting a disk into it and turning on a light, she moved to Summer's side so the could both see it. Kira fastfoward a bit and then played for her friend.  
  
"This guy right here *points to person on camera screen*, he's Jin, and that's his friend Touya."  
  
"Oh my God! What are they wearing?"  
  
"I'm not quite sure, but their demons so...fashion isn't a priority."  
  
"Shoot, I wouldn't hang out with those guys."  
  
"It gets worse, it really does." Kira showed her everyone else she caught on film, even the Spirit Demon team and the DA team. Somehow, they managed to crack super hilarious jokes about all of them. By the time they were done, they couldn't breathe.  
  
Kira and Summer walked and sat on the grass.  
  
"You'll never guess what Jordash (nickname) did in class yesterday. We were in language class and he must have got a bad grade on his homework because he says out loud 'Holy Shit...toki mushrooms!' (true story at my school) And like the whole room was silent when he said it. Every just bursted out laughing. The teacher glared at him and was like 'I didn't find that very amusing. Don't do it again.' It only made us laugh harder." Kira was laughing painfully hard. Jordash was so funny! The three of them had some good memories.  
  
"Remember that one time," started Kira, "when Jordash was talking to those one dudes, and he was like 'that was nucking futs!' We laughed so hard!" Nothing could stop them from laughing again.  
  
"Ok, it's time to get serious," said Kira.  
  
"I'm listening," stated Summer.  
  
Kira took a deep breath. "I don't know how this is going to end."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, you know that the Dark Assailants are the one who killed my real mom. I don't have a real idea of how strong they are, so I don't know if I could beat him and live to tell about it."  
  
Her friend sat silent for a couple of minutes. Kira wondered if telling her was a good idea, but she wanted someone to know.  
  
"As long as you don't think like that, you'll make it. You've came back everytime. Why should this be any different? You only have more reason to kick this guys ass and come back to prove how strong you are."  
  
"I guess that makes sense."  
  
"Beside, I know you'll come back." Kira and Summer sat there awhile, each thinking about the future.  
  
"Well, I have to go. I still need to get some sleep for tomorrow."  
  
"Aight," Summer said while getting up. "Here, these are for you. But I want them back." She handed Kira a CD case.  
  
"Coo...," Kira responded, getting a smile from her friend.  
  
"You take care, OK? I want those CD's back," Summer said forcefully.  
  
"Yes ma'am. Talk to you later. Bye." The two girls hugged and Summer headed back towards the car.  
  
"Tell T.J. 'Bye' for me!" Kira yelled across to her friend.  
  
"KAY! BYE!"  
  
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A/N: I'm sorry It's takin me so long to put this up. I've been super busy with school work and basketball. So, please forgive me. TTYL (^_^) 


	12. Boring

Kyra had been gone about a half an hour. She opened a portal on the opposite side of the island where she had opened her other portal. This way, if anyone was waiting for her, they'd be there awhile. She wasn't sure either if Hiei and Kurama had returned from their "trip."  
  
Cautiously, she made her way back to the hotel, still dressed in her dark ensemble. When she reached the side with her window, Kyra checked for any presences, only to find the ones that would be in their rooms, asleep. Once under her window, she leaped into her room. Quietly, she put down her possessions and cloak, and then checked the living area. No one. She soon slipped into her sleeping clothes and climbed into bed, hoping she had gone unnoticed.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Kurama and Hiei entered the room, silent, say for the door lightly clicking behind them. They too slipped into their room, hoping to have gone unnoticed. They most likely got away without anyone knowing what they were up to, except Kyra, who knew they left, but didn't know when they were to return.  
  
Unknown to all three of them was that the dark assailants were watching all of their actions. Like the shadows they could become, they clung to dark walls and such. Never acting, only watching, they observed in hopes of discovering a plan. This way they could make up their own. As long they were undetected...or thought they were.  
  
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The next day came soon enough. Kyra some how managed to be the third person up, beating Kuwabara and Yusuke. She was dressed like she was ready to go out with friends. Wearing a pair of beat-up faded blue jeans with a hole in it, a gray sweater with one big pocket across the stomach, a green fisherman kind of hat (but more stylish) with a tan strip that went all the way around it, she was listening to her walkman. Her hair was pulled back in its braid. Hiei was in his normal ensemble, but instead of his black cloak, he wore a pastel yellow tanktop that had the sleeves ripped off. Kurama was dressed in some sort of uniform, most likely the one he wore in spirit world as a guard, or whatever.  
  
Yusuke and Kuwabara came out in fighter clothes, ready for action. The fight didn't start until 1:00 today, so they had plenty of time to kill. Kyra took off, soon after she came out of her room. Not a word was said by her two teammates. They both seemed to be a little consumed in thoughts.  
  
Kyra walked until she found a clearing. She had brought the bag she had been given last night. Sifting through the contents, she laid them out in front of her. Everything she had asked for was there, and then some. Now the only thing left was were to begin. Kyra looked over the bombs. She had asked for them for a specific reason, though she didn't know if they would really help much. A couple of them were knock out gas, others smoke bombs, and the rest explosive. They were small, like the size of a fifty cent piece, but in the shape of a sphere.  
  
Along with that were hacking devices, cameras, and a remote controlled car that was 2 times smaller than regular ones. She was going to use it for spying purposes.  
  
Kyra glanced at her watch. 11:00. Her fight wasn't until 1:00. She didn't know what she could do. Deciding she should try to relax and rest before the fight, she headed back to the hotel to put her stuff away. While there, she grabbed her weapon for the fight and slung the belt around her waist, hiding it under sweater. After doing so, she walked around the island, looking for nothing particular. Kyra went over everything that had happened and had yet to happen in her head.  
  
'Maybe coming here wasn't such a good idea,' she thought. 'I shouldn't have been so quick to say yes to Kurama. I've put too much on the line now. Damn it! Let's just hope my act holds out long enough.' Because she was listening to her walkman for the whole time, she hadn't heard the person watching her. That didn't mean she hadn't sensed him, but she acted as though she didn't.  
  
Toran, the Spirit Demon team's leader, was closely watching her, thinking he had gone unnoticed. Making sure he was out of sight and that there was a distance between them, he observed her. This girl had been the topic of his father's and his late night conversations. They had not shared their suspicions with their other group members, for fear of it being leaked out. Toran was skeptical of her though. The little girl he used to call sister looked and acted nothing like this girl. Even if the last time he saw her was when she was 5, he had a clear memory of who she was.  
  
His thoughts were interrupted when Kyra took off at a mad dash. It started so quickly that it took him a second to register what had happened. He figured he had been caught, so didn't proceed to chase after her.  
  
The truth was that Kyra had had an adrenaline rush because a fast song that came on. The sudden urge to get rid of it came over her. She had dashed down the path she was creating, doing cartwheels and flips along the way like a 10 year-old. It was fun to her, no matter how stupid it may have looked. It wasn't like her to care about what other's thought...especially demons. Eventually the song ended and she returned to her normal pace.  
  
After walking around for a while, she heard her stomach growl. Her watch said 11:56, so she headed back to the hotel for some food. On her way, she passed a pair of demons that checked her out. Kyra passed them by, like they were nothing, which they were. Unfortunately, they didn't like that. They hurried and walked in front of her.  
  
"Hey there little girl. What's someone like you doing out here all by your lonesome?" asked one demon who was a pale blue, with out-of-control black hair, no pupils, sharp teeth and claws and was wearing only pants. Kyra pulled down her sunglasses to get a clearer look at him, and then placed them back upon her eyes.  
  
"Walking," She replied.  
  
"We could see that," stated another demon, this one orange, bald, with pupils, sharp teeth and claws, wearing pants, a shirt AND shoes.  
  
"Then why did you ask?" asked Kyra in a sarcastic tone.  
  
"Hn. Think you're funny?" started the first demon.  
  
"Extremely," was all she had to say. Kyra tried to walk around him, but he stepped in her path once again.  
  
The second demon came up behind her. "You know, for a human, you aren't to bad lookin'. How about we show you what a good time is?" he hissed.  
  
Kyra snickered, holding in her laughter. Finally she let it out, just as Toran, who had slowly walked back, spotted the scene.  
  
"You!? Show me a good time?! Yeah right! You don't know what the definition of a good time is." The two demons scowled at Kyra.  
  
"Well then, maybe you can enlighten us," said the demon behind her. He put his hand on her shoulder, and the smile on her face disappeared.  
  
Coldly, and turning her head so she could see him, Kyra spoke to him, "Don't touch me."  
  
The demon merely smirked and tighten his grip on her, "Whatch ya going to do about it?" Toran stepped out so that the two demons could see him.  
  
"Leave her alone," he commanded. The two demons became nervous, knowing very well how powerful the Spirit Demon Prince was. The first one got cocky though.  
  
"Why? She mean something to you?"  
  
"No," Toran said as he cracked his knuckles, "but this is a good excuse to beat up some worthless demons."  
  
The two demons stepped away from the girl towards him. "You think we're scared of you?" stammered the orange demon. They both charged at the Prince, hands pulled back ready to strike. Kyra watched the whole thing, silent. She didn't really care for any of them. As they focused their attention on Toran, she walked off, not even looking back to see what would happen. It wasn't her problem anymore; and she wasn't going to thank him for something she hadn't needed help with.  
  
The Spirit demon easily avoided the two others and sent them flying to the ground with punches. They attacked again and he grabbed them by the heads, ramming them into each other. Both demons fell unconscious to the ground.  
  
Toran pretended to dust off his hands. His back was facing where the girl once stood. He spoke while turning around, "No need to than..."--she wasn't there. Looking, he saw her down the path, walking away. His face became somewhat read with embarrassment and anger. Toran growled to himself, then walked off in a different direction.  
  
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A/N: Ok...well that's all for this chappy. Things are kinda going slow, but I'm working on it. I haven't quite decided how I want everything to work out yet. I have several ideas. So just review. Bye-bye 


	13. Summer's here

Kyra had just reached the hotel a couple minutes after 12:00. As the automatic doors opened, she noticed that not many people were in the lobby, most likely in the dining area. She thought she recognized one of them though. When that person yelled out her name, her guesses were confirmed.  
  
"Hey Kyra!" yelled the girl.  
  
"Summer?" Kyra asked, stunned to see it was her.  
  
Summer rushed over to her. "Yo...what up punk?"  
  
"Caa! Hoo! How...how did you get here?!" Kyra stammered out.  
  
Summer grinned at her awe struck friend. "Well you said it was boring, so I thought I would come and cheer you up."  
  
"How did you get here?"  
  
"I asked T.J. for a favor."  
  
Kyra put her hand to her forehead. "Oh god. This can't be happening."  
  
Summer punched her in the arm, "Shut up! What's the worst that can happen?"  
  
Kyra looked at her then shook her head. The two laughed. They both knew very well that when they were together, they caused a lot of trouble. Somehow, the two friends managed stir up something wherever they went.  
  
"I guess it's too late for you to get back," Kyra shook her head. "You're going to get me killed. How long have you been here?"  
  
"Oh...about 15 minutes. I had the clerk call up to the room, but no one was there. Oh! That reminds me. I brought you something." Summer ran back over to her big bag that she had brought for the time she would be staying her. She untied something from the strap, and then slung the bag over her shoulder. She walked back to her friend.  
  
"Here," she said handing over a pair of rollerblades, "I stopped by your house and picked these up for you before I came. Mine are in my bag."  
  
"Sweet. Thank." Kyra looked around quick. "Come on, let's take your stuff to the hotel room." They dashed up to the third floor and entered the room. No one was there and they decided that Summer could just sleep with her in Kyra's room. They hurried back down the stairs to find Kyra's teammates.  
  
They found them in the dining area, along with other fighters. Apparently, the rich people had eaten earlier and weren't there; probably getting ready for the fight. Kyra led her friend over to the table where they were sitting.  
  
"Hey Kira," greeted Kayko. "Who's your friend?"  
  
"This is Summer. She's a really good friend of mine. Apparently, she decided to pay a surprise visit to me. She'll be staying with us for the remainder of the tournament."  
  
"Where's she suppose to sleep?" asked Botan.  
  
"Oh she's just gonna sleep in my room with me. We can always call up for an extra cot or something."  
  
Kyra happened to take a glance at Hiei. It seemed that he didn't like that fact that they would have one more human to deal with. She didn't mention anything.  
  
"Why don't you two sit down and have some lunch," urged Kurama. "Kyra, you should eat before we fight. We already did."  
  
Kyra and Summer each took a chair from a nearby table and sat down. Kyra leaned in and grabbed an apple from the center of the table, where there was a fruit bowl. She started to eat it.  
  
"Is that all you're going to eat?" asked Yukina.  
  
"Yep. I don't like to eat a lot before I fight." They sat there as time came closer to 1:00. The girls asked Summer a couple of questions to start a conversation.  
  
Eventually, the time came for them to go. Summer went with the other girls, but not before Kyra pulled her away so they could talk. Then Kyra headed with her team to the fighting area while their friends went to get seats. The announcer called the two teams out into the open and they stepped out.  
  
"And now!...let the matches begin. Will the captains please come to the stage" called Koto into her microphone. Kyra started to step forward, as did Yusuke. They looked at her.  
  
"What?" she said sarcastically as she stopped. The other's just smiled at her joke and Yusuke hurried forward. Hiei looked at her like she was an idiot but she didn't care. Kyra stepped back next to Kurama, smiling. As Yusuke came back, Koto announced that they would be having one on one fights again.  
  
Kurama went into the ring first. Today's fight would be much harder than their first one. He would be fighting an opponent by the name of Orko. He was a tall, skinny demon, who was broad in the shoulder. His skin was a whitish, and walked in a deathly sort of manner. Kurama looked to be studying his new foe, as he stood calm and collected. Orko was covered in daggers and knives and a collection of other throwing objects. Kurama concluded that he would be a challenge in close and distant combat.  
  
The fight started. The enemy wasn't much of a talker and just started to fight. Four ninja blades appeared in each hand and he threw them at Kurama. He dodged them easily enough, but was soon attacked by another round of the spinning blades. This time he was cut a couple of times.  
  
The fight continued in a similar manner. Kurama was forced to use his vines as a shield to avoid getting hit, but still had some trouble. His opponent's special technique consisted of putting ki energy into his weapons and sending them on a suicide mission at Kurama.  
  
Somehow, Kurama managed to unleash his death plant on his victim. Kurama ended up with some cuts and bruises and his left shoulder was bleeding pretty bad. Nothing looked too serious though.  
  
Kuwabara was up next. He was being his cocky self in the ring. That's probably what caused him to loose the fight. His opponent was exceptionally smart, and if they had known, Kurama probably would have been the one to fight him.  
  
Kyra stepped into the ring. She was still wearing her sweater and hat, which hid her headphones.  
  
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A/N: I'm sorry it's taking me so long...but I've sort ran into a bit of a writers block. So aaaaa....be patient PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSEEEE. Thank. 


	14. Soul Blades

Kyra hopped onto the stage. The demon was pink and fat and only about a foot taller than her. He wore only a pair of pants. She looked him over through her sunglasses. She was still wearing her sweater and hat, and her Walkman was still playing. Her hat hid her headphones.  
  
She had the volume cranked pretty loud, so she just followed the lips of whoever was speaking. She had almost completely blocked out the crowd. She heard the buzzer sound for them to start fighting. According to the board her opponents name was Boko. He was trying to say something to her, but of course she wasn't listening.  
  
She couldn't help but smile when he finally figured that she wasn't listening. Maybe it was because he insulted her or something and she hadn't responded in any way. Suddenly her lips started to move slightly, mouthing the words to the song. Boko looked like he was about to explode.  
  
"Kyra seems to be ignoring Boko's insults," Koto said into her microphone. The crowd roared.  
  
"What is she doing?" asked Hiei.  
  
"I'm not sure," responded Kurama.  
  
"Thinks its strategy?" said Yusuke.  
  
"I highly doubt it," remarked Hiei.  
  
"I don't know Hiei," started Kurama.  
  
"You can't actually think she's doing this on purpose."  
  
"Maybe, but then again I don't know exactly what she's trying to accomplish if it is."  
  
"Jees! How can she just let him say those things!" exclaimed Kuwabara. "If that was me in there he'd have my fist in his mouth!" The four teammates watched on as she still made no move.  
  
"You stupid wench! How dare you ignore me!" Boko yelled. With that he charged. She easily dodged to the side and he continued his assault on her with his fists. The demon was sort of pudgy and wasn't the fastest thing in the world. She was watching him closely.  
  
Suddenly her opponent unmasked his ki and hitter 3 times faster than he was. She was sent flying backwards, but did a backwards flip so that she landed on her feet, in a squatting sort of position. He had soft hand, probably because of his doughy skin. Kyra gently touched the spot where she had been hit to find no blood. She then put her hands in her big pocket on her sweater while standing up straight.  
  
"You stupid girl," Boko stated. "You thought you could do whatever you want, but now I'm going to kill you for your insolence."  
  
Kyra smirked, "You're a fucking pussy. You should have used that opportunity to hit me with everything you had than trying make yourself look stronger. I can sense your true limits, but they still wouldn't be enough to beat me."  
  
"HOW...DARE...YOU! I won't even need half of my energy to kill you!" Boko yelled back.  
  
"Are you sure about that?" questioned Kyra.  
  
"Positive."  
  
"Alright then, go to half right now and fight me. Let's see if what you say is true." She provoked.  
  
"Fine, but it will be the death of you."  
  
"We'll see..."  
  
Boko powered up to half of his ki. Kyra studied him. He was a pretty strong demon; definitely worthy of being in this tournament. But no matter what he did, it wouldn't be enough to beat her.  
  
"I hope you're ready for this GIRL!" he yelled. Again he charged at her, with a much greater speed than before. But she seemed to have no problem avoiding his attacks. Finally he threw a punch harder than the ones before it. Kyra completely sidestepped and pivoted on her left foot. He right leg went into the air and came back down on the back of his neck. Boko slammed into the concrete, breaking it slightly.  
  
Kyra jumped back as he got up. "Well I guess that proves your theory wrong," she mocked with a smile. Boko was wiping his mouth when he got up.  
  
"That's it. You've embarrassed me long enough." He said it so only she could hear.  
  
"Sorry to say, but that was the whole point."  
  
"What..." growled Boko. He was up by now.  
  
"Boko!" yelled a member from his team. He looked over. "Calm down! Stop fighting to impress and start fighting to win."  
  
"Of course Reyu." He took a deep breath. He powered up to full. After that he pinched off three globs from his skin about the size of an orange. Boko then shot blasts of energy into each one. They started to move and form into small creatures that looked like him...sort of. One was skinny and pink, another middle, and the last fat.  
  
Boko chuckled, "I call them the triplets of mischief. You should feel special because I only like to use the attack when I have too. Now go and kill her!" he commanded.  
  
The three giggled high pitch laughs and started to run towards her in a line. They probably only came up to about her waist. Kyra watched as they split up and made a triangle around her. She looked to her sides so that she could see them.  
  
"This is different," she said to herself. The three charged at her delivering punches and kicks of the sorts. She blocked some with her hands, elbows and knees, all while stepping backwards.  
  
"How in the world is she suppose to fight three guys at once!" stammered Kuwabara.  
  
Hiei smirked, "This will be a good test to see what she's really made of." Kurama only nodded.  
  
The fight was still going on. Koto said something to the crowd. All of the sudden one of them slipped behind her feet and she started to fall backwards. Then another punched her hard in the gut while the last grabbed her arm and threw her across the stage into the wall. The crowd screamed in glee to see some damaged done. Her teammates watched as she flew past them into the wall. All stared a little wide-eyed.  
  
"Kyra has been thrown out of the ring!" yelled Koto. "It seems the three triplets are actually pretty good. They were all giggling. "I'll start the counting...1.......2......."  
  
Kyra was already out of the ruble by 3. She walked over to her teammates. As she was passing them Hiei grabbed her arm.  
  
"Hey! Get serious. We can't afford to lose this match."  
  
She smiled, "You want me to get serious?" He only stared. "Fine." Kyra pulled her arm away from him and took off her hat, throwing it to the ground. She then discarded the headphones and took out her Walkman putting that down next to it. Finally she pulled off her sweater and draped it over the other stuff, revealing the belt strapped around her waist. "Watch those for me, ok?" Kyra hurried back onto the stage.  
  
Koto was at 8 when she stepped back in. "After stopping to remove some clothing, Kyra has stepped back into the ring! Now let the fight continue!"  
  
"I hope you know that you brought this upon yourself," teased Boko.  
  
"Probably, but now that my teammates want me to be 'serious' that's about to change," Kyra did air quotes when she said the word serious. She started to stretch her muscles. Then she started to jog up and down (like a boxer) and pulled out her knives. She twirled them around in her hands a couple of times. Boko laughed.  
  
"You think those small butter knives are enough to stop my triplets?"  
  
"We'll see..." Kyra said.  
  
"Triplets! Go!" The three laughed again and then charged. Kyra was ready for them. She moved with a flexibility that allowed her to get hits in. The three were now having a hard time hitting her.  
  
Kyra grabbed hold of one by the head. She brought the blade up to its neck and quickly slashed, cutting half of it. It fell to the ground, limp. The other two looked at it and became nervous. She took the opportunity to strike the down, jabbing both of them. The two fell to the ground. All three bodies now lay dead around her.  
  
Boko didn't move. "It's not over. Not until I run out of energy." He shot new blasts of energy into all of them and they started to mold again until they were back in the form she had been fighting. Kyra jumped back a good 20 feet. The three triplets giggled again.  
  
"Well this is just great," started Yusuke. "Not only is she fighting three guys at once, but they can just mold back together!"  
  
"Yes, it does seem to be a problem," replied Kurama.  
  
"She's hiding something," stated Hiei. They looked at him surprised. "Kyra is too calm and collected. She must have a plan." The four of them turned back to the fight.  
  
Kyra smiled back at Boko. "Maybe I'm just not using a big enough knife," she told him. He seemed to become confused by what she said. "Allow me to show you."  
  
Kyra channeled some of her energy into the blades. They glowed a bright yellow, the color of her ki. Soon they were engulfed in swirls of smoke. When the smoke had disappeared, the small daggers had transformed into larger versions. There was about a foot of blade at the end of each and the long 4 and half-foot poles were red with hollow ends. Kyra spun the now enlarged weapons in her hands.  
  
"They're called Soul Blades. You might have heard of them," Kyra said. She was still spinning them in her hands. They were quite heavy.  
  
"Surely you can't be talking about the same ones," Boko stuttered.  
  
"Yes, I am." Boko had a wave a fear wash over his face. It seemed to channel itself to the triplets too. 


	15. Under estimated

A/N: OK...I haven't done one of these in awhile, but now I have something to say. First off, I would just like to thank a dedicated reviewer – Ivy Raine and all the others who reviewed. Second, I've run into a bit of a writers block, so sorry if I'm getting the chapters up kinda slowly. Third, I was wondering if you guys wanted sneak previews of what's to come and if u guys would want an alternate version once I get to a certain part. I'll let you guys decide, so review me with your thoughts. Thank.  
  
P.S. If anyone has a good summary I could have that's only 2-3 sentences, send it this way! Thanks...again.  
  
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IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY READ THE A/N ABOVE, DO SO....IMPORTANT MESSAGE! Thanks  
  
"What are Soul Blades?" asked Yusuke.  
  
"They're a special weapon made from a person's soul. They are very powerful," informed Kurama.  
  
"But what they're famous for is the people that wield them. It takes a lot of ki to transform and control them. I believe that there are a total of 7 Soul weapons out there. Each one is different and has it's own special ability," finished Hiei.  
  
"So does that mean Kyra is really strong?" Kuwabara asked.  
  
"Weren't you listening to anything he just said!" yelled Yusuke.  
  
"That's why I'm asking!" Kuwabara shouted back.  
  
"Yes Kuwabara, she has some skill. But to tell how strong she really is, we'll have to see how good she is with them," answered Kurama. They turned their attention back to the fight.  
  
"The tension in the ring is almost unbearable!" shouted Koto. "Let's hope it leads to some blood and action."  
  
"Let's..." Kyra said.  
  
"Just because you have those doesn't mean you're any good with them, or that you'll beat me," replied Boko.  
  
"You wanna bet?" asked Kyra. A sweat drop appeared on Boko's face. He commanded his triplets to start attacking.  
  
Kyra smirked. This would be excellent practice. As they attacked, she jumped back, dodging their punches. She jumped backwards into the air, doing a flip in the air.  
  
"Bad move," Boko said aloud. The three little fighters let out energy blasts. The blasts were coming fast as Kyra finished her flip in mid air. She only smirked again.  
  
"Soul cut!" she yelled. She crossed the two blades where the metal started, to form an X. She then sliced at the air, scraping the two blades against each other. As a result, a huge, yellow, cresent moon shaped blast of ki was sent towards the triplets and their blasts. It easily over came their attacks and headed straight for them.  
  
The sound of the attack hitting the stage was enough to overcome their screams. Kyra landed on the edge of the stage. She waited patiently for the smoke to clear. When it finally did, the only thing left was Boko and a large cut in the stage going from one side to the other.  
  
Gasps were heard through out the stadium. "So, still think I can't use them?" Kyra asked.  
  
He was too shocked to answer. Boko felt a number of conflicting emotions: fear, embarrassment, and the feeling of not knowing what to do. One thing he did know was that she was stronger than him.  
  
"Well, I'm sorry to say that you are boring me, so I'm going to end this fight," Kyra informed Boko. She untransformed her blades and returned them to their sheaths.  
  
In a last desperate act, Boko charged at her. She easily avoided him and in returned delivered several direct plows to his head, rendering him unconscious. He fell to the ground. Koto did a ten count and Kyra walked off the stage.  
  
Her teammates watched her suspiciously as she took her place on the end. "What?" she asked. They quickly turned away their gazes.  
  
Hiei and Yusuke finished with their fights and the team walked away with a win. The "groupies" came down to check on them. It seemed that only Kyra had received minimal damage. Kuwabara was seated on the table and Yukina was tending to his wounds. The other three were standing. Keiko gave her attention to Yusuke while Botan helped Kurama with his wounds.  
  
Summer was standing next to Kyra. Summer elbowed her friend. "I'll see you guys later," Kyra said and left with her friend. None of them protested. After waiting 5 minutes they started to discuss her fight. They had to explain to Keiko, Shizuru, Yusuke, and Kuwabara what Soul blades were and what the big deal was.  
  
As for Kyra and Summer...well they running away from the stadium out into the forest. They stopped after awhile, breathing kind of hard. They started walking once they stopped breathing heavily.  
  
"So what do you think they'll say?" Summer asked.  
  
Kyra tied her sweatshirt around her waist. "I don't know, but I think my plan's working. They're probably more confused then they were before."  
  
"I saw that blue haired chick hittin' on your man back there," Summer teased.  
  
"He ain't my man. Shit, you and I both know I could do better." They both laughed.  
  
"God knows you could. After the pictures I've seen, almost makes me want to dump my man for some of them. Almost." The two laughed again.  
  
Kyra tucked her walkman between her waist and sweatshirt and put the headphones around her neck. She turned it on, pushing an FM button so that it played the radio. Then she turned the volume up as loud as it could go so that Summer could hear the music too.  
  
The two continued to walk through the forest, talking and laughing. Kyra was glad that they weren't being followed right now.  
  
(Back at the stadium)  
  
Yukina and Botan were just about done helping Kuwabara and Kurama with their wounds. The conversation had remained focused on Kyra and her weapon. Hiei had brought up the point that her having that weapon only proved that she was strong and a valuable team member. Koenma had to argue that whatever she did to get them was probably illegal. Kurama reminded him that he and Hiei had also done illegal things.  
  
They were still discussing the issue when the Rokuyukai team stopped by.  
  
"Oi Urameshi!" Jin said. "That was some pretty nice fighten' you were doin' out there. But they weren't nothing to be sweatin' about."  
  
"Thanks Jin," Yusuke said.  
  
"Now that I think about it, the girl was pretty good too. She had us laughin' pretty hard makin' him sweat and all. Hey, where is she anyways?"  
  
"We don't know, she left with her friend like 15 minutes ago," replied Yusuke.  
  
"Was it that black girl we saw by your friends?" Touya asked.  
  
"Yeah, she just got here today around noon. Kyra said it was a surprise visit."  
  
"Do you know where she got those weapons?" Sazuka asked Kurama.  
  
He shook his head. "No, I don't have a clue. But my guess is she's had them awhile because she knew how to use them."  
  
(In the stadium arena)  
  
Demons were loudly crowding out of the stands since the fights for that day were over. The Dark Assailants had left after Kyra had finished her fight. The Spirit Demon team was still on the highest level of the stadium, looking out over the railing.  
  
Toran was leaning against the railing, starring at the wall. His father was watching the demons.  
  
"Is everything alright my Lord?" asked one of the fighters from their team.  
  
"Yes Kushon, everything's fine," Lord Kye replied. Kushon walked back over to the other three.  
  
"It seems we underestimated her," Toran said. His father only nodded. "Her having those weapons threw me completely off. Now I don't know what to expect from her."  
  
"You don't even know if you'll be fighting the Urameshi team. They'll be going up against some pretty strong demons next time."  
  
"They'll win, I know it. Besides, I think she might want to fight me as well."  
  
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A/N: OK well that's all for this chapter. I hope I didn't throw you off with that whole Soul Blades thing. They don't play a big part in the story, they're just her weapon and tell that she's strong. Oh yeah, and for those of you who haven't figured it out yet, I made them up. Ok....review! 


	16. Relax

The Urameshi team-minus Kyra and her friend-walked into the dining area. Other fighters were already sitting down waiting for what ever the servants were going to bring. They took a seat at a big table, pulling another one next to it for Keiko and the others. They sat down, all nine of them, waiting along with everyone else.  
  
Yusuke looked around the room. Teams were sitting together at tables, talking. He mentally went over who they were, or at least tried. He saw that the team they beat today wasn't there, nor the ones that went around in the dark cloaks. He saw one person from the...the Spirit Team was it (?), glancing over at them occasionally.  
  
Turning his attention back to his own table, he listened to the conversation. The girls were talking about something he didn't want to know about and Kuwabara and the others were talking about their fights from earlier.  
  
"Do you see Kyra?" asked Kurama.  
  
"Nope," Yusuke replied. "I haven't seen her since the fight."  
  
"Neither have I."  
  
"Wonder what they're up to..."  
  
Kurama sighed, "Probably goofing off. She's weird like that."  
  
"You really know huh?" Yusuke said with a sheepish smile.  
  
Kurama gave him an annoyed stare. "Not like that."  
  
They were still talking about the fights when Kyra and Summer strode in. Kyra had put her sweater back on. Her hat and sunglasses were tucked away into her pocket since it had started to become dark outside. She was holding onto her walkman. The two walked over to the large group.  
  
"Hey guys, what's up?" Kyra asked, sticking her hands in her back pockets.  
  
"Waiting for you...." Hiei retorted.  
  
"You shouldn't have," she joked.  
  
"Where were you two all this time?" Kurama asked.  
  
"None of your business, noisy," Summer snapped. They were a little surprised by her rudeness. Kyra elbowed her friend.  
  
"Hey, they weren't being noisy, they were just wondering."  
  
"You're just saying that 'cause you're noisy too." Summer said looking the other way.  
  
"I have an excuse. It's my job to know."  
  
"Mmm-hm....sure it is." Kyra pushed her with one hand.  
  
"We were just walking around the island," Kyra explained, "looking around. Nothin' special."  
  
"Well you sure took your time," Yusuke teased.  
  
"Really? Last time I checked there wasn't anything else to do around here. Unless of course you guys found some other sort of amusement that you have yet to share." Kyra leaned closer to Yusuke, arching an eyebrow.  
  
"No, not exactly, but we weren't just walking around doing nothing."  
  
"So you were sitting around doing nothing?"  
  
"No we were doing something."  
  
"Your kind of something and my kind of something probably aren't the same thing."  
  
Yusuke gave a defeated sigh. "Yeah..."  
  
Kyra and Summer took chairs from a nearby table and pulled them up to the end of the one the others were sitting at. Kyra put her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands. "I'm so hungry..." she groaned.  
  
"I imagine you are. You haven't really eaten anything since early this morning," Kurama mused.  
  
Kyra gave another moan as she felt the air in her stomach. A couple minutes later the servants started bringing out the large trays carrying all the food. They waited patiently as they made their way over to them and set down the food.  
  
Everyone dug into his or her food, talking and eating enjoyably. Kyra glanced around and noticed that the room wasn't really loud. "Jeese, it's creepy eating with no sound. I'm so use to loud cafeterias and noisy places," Kyra said to Summer before taking another bite of food.  
  
"Yeah, I know. And were usually the ones making the most noise," Summer joked.  
  
"Naa...it only works when Jordan's here. Otherwise we don't have anyone to make stupid jokes like a corny math teacher."  
  
"Who are we suppose to steal money from?"  
  
"You mean 'Who are YOU suppose to steal money from?' I'm not the one reaching into his pockets looking for money."  
  
"So what!?"  
  
"You know,sometimes I wonder what you're really grabbing for in there," Kyra couldn't stop a sheepish grin from spreading on her lips. "Especially when he says 'to the left'." Summer punched Kyra as shecovered her mouth to soften the sound of her laughter.  
  
"It's not like you don't help."  
  
"It's too bad he had to be such a thin and scrawny guy. You know, he eats twice as much bad stuff as we do and he's like the same size. Damn him and his fast metabolism!" Summer gave a laugh, covering her mouth.  
  
Kyra noticed that the members of table were looking at them weird. "What's so funny?" Shizuru asked.  
  
"Inside joke, you wouldn't get it," Kyra quickly explained. Summer was trying to calm herself down.  
  
They finished eating, but stayed and talked awhile. Kyra and Summer had passed up desert. As the others were eating, they said their good-byes and left. Hiei mumbled about them being too secretive to Kurama. He gave a small nod, but then again, he thought it was normal behavior for Kyra.  
  
Kyra and Summer rushed up to the hotel room and into their room. Summer pulled out a bright yellow radio and a pack of batteries. As Summer was putting batteries into the traveling music player, Kyra got out her CD's and put them with Summer's collection. Kyra then picked up her brown bag, emptying some of the contents and replacing them with new ones. Summer put on her sweater, and then the two strode out of the room carrying their items.  
  
They quickly rushed past the dining area where some people were still sitting. Going out the automatic doors, they ran through the forest until they came to the edge by the beach. They then ran along the beach, away from the motel. After awhile, they reached their destination.  
  
Earlier, they had walked along the beach looking for a good place where they could relax and stuff. They found a nice part of sandy beach next to the water with plenty of room to spread out. A small 8-foot cliff was behind them, separating them from the forest. Drift would was scatter up against it.  
  
Setting down the stuff they were carrying, they scrambled around collecting the wood. Some was small, other pieces large. They stacked them into two large piles.  
  
As Summer continued to collect wood, Kyra kneeled down in the dirt and dug a large round pit. She used her ki abilities to blast a hole that was about 4 feet wide and half a foot deep. She then began to build up the wood into a tent like shape, with the bigger pieces on top.  
  
"You can stop gathering wood now Summer," Kyra told her friend when she dropped another armful on the pile.  
  
"Kay," she said and sat down. Kyra reached into her bag and pulled out a liter. She flipped up the lid and lit it by rolling her thumb along the wheel. The small flame appeared and she put it to the center of the wood, lighting the kindling. She then powered it with her ki and it started to grow, quickly starting the very dry wood on fire.  
  
Kyra scooted back to where summer was sitting. "I think I made it too big," she said with a smile.  
  
"Really? I thought it was kinda small." Summer put the radio in her lap and turned it on. She turned up the volume and then messed with tuning the station. When she found the one she wanted she set it down next to them and turned the volume up louder.  
  
It just started playing a fast song and it didn't take long before the two girls were moving around to the rhythm while they sat before the fire. Summer put one hand behind her head, elbow out, with the other hand out in front of her and moved them back and forth (I think you can figure out the dance move). Kyra laughed at her exaggerated movements and performed her own. Summer and Kyra started to laugh hysterically. They always got really hyper after they ate. It was just too much of an energy boost.  
  
The song ended and they calmed back down. "Hey, what time is it?" asked Summer.  
  
"Ummm.."Kyra looked at her watch, "10 to 7. So you've got to wait 10 minutes before I get free minutes for my phone."  
  
Then the radio guy came on to introduce the new song.  
  
"This songs gay, let's put in one of my CD's," Summer said as she grabbed the bag. She pulled out her packet and started flipping through it. Kyra popped open the top of the radio as Summer pulled out a disc. She put it in and waited for the radio to read the disc. When the numbers appeared, she pushed the search button until she came to number 6. Pushing play, the music started and Summer turned up the volume.  
  
The whole time they were there, they were being watched. Having followed them since they left the hotel, the dark figure watched from the forest in shadows at the two girls on beach below him. Solex had kept his distance earlier during the tournament. He knew she would try to fight him outside of the ring if possible. But that didn't mean he wasn't watching her at all. This was a good opportunity to make his own assumptions with out the opinions of his stupid generals. So far their reports had been on things he didn't really want to hear about. He already knew enough about her fighting techniques and her weak points and all that other stuff. What he really wanted to know was about who she was. Her likes and dislikes. Those were the things that would help him the most.  
  
It wasn't long before Solex noticed another presence. He scanned the forest and saw the person was also watching the two girls. It was Lord Kye, the Spirit Demon. Solex smiled to himself as thoughts ran through his head. 'So, he suspects something. I wonder how long it will take him to realize it really is her. She probably already knows it's him. I'll make sure I'm around when they confront each other.'  
  
Solex turned his attention back to the girls, glancing occasionally at the Demon lord.  
  
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A/N: I had a lot to write this time. I've also done some foreshadowing and dropped a couple of clues. Review! (^_^) 


	17. Watched

A/N: Please Review! I want to know if you think it's starting to get twisty! And I want you to respond to chpt. 23. Ok...well...yeah, just review! PLEASE! THANK!  
  
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Kyra and Summer were still sitting around the fire. Kyra could feel the two people watching them, but she wasn't about to let them know she knew they were there. Summer was talking on her phone since it was past seven.  
  
Kyra tapped Summer on the shoulder and motioned for her wrap it up. She hated listening to Summer talk to her boyfriend. Hearing her friend say good-bye, Kyra held out her hand for the phone. She put it away in her bag when Summer handed it to her.  
  
Summer skipped to another song (Yeah by Usher). She did the peace sign and turned it upside down (that's what he does in the video). She and Kyra started to dance to the song. They started doing exaggerated and funny moves and it wasn't long before they laughing.  
  
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah..." they sang with the song. As the song finished, they did the moves like in the video.  
  
They laughed and danced for a long time. On one particular song, the two friends got up and started dancing around the fire. Solex watched with hungry eyes as Kyra moved with the rhythm. Her lips were moving along with the words of the song, and it was turning him on. Suddenly, Kyra said something to her friend, running her hands down the sides of her body as she said it. Solex hadn't heard the words, but whatever she had said angered her friend and she started chasing Kyra. Kyra ran around the fire laughing and then broke away to the water, running along the beach. They ran out of his sight, but he heard a scream. Then they came running back, this time Kyra after Summer. Kyra easily caught her friend and threw her into the water. Summer got up and pulled her down with her and both girls were laughing loudly, drenched as they walked back to the fire.  
  
Lord Kye watched, a small smile on his lips. It was nice to see them having so much fun in such a violent place like this. Lately, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Could she really be his daughter, Kyrashima? Part of him said yes, the other told him no. He'd have to watch her more before he made any sort of decision.  
  
Kyra and Summer were standing by the fire, drying off. They seemed to be talking really quietly, because neither of the watchers could hear any sound besides the radio. Both sat back down after a little while.  
  
********************  
  
It was about 11 when Kyra put out the fire. Summer packed up the stuff as her friend kicked dirt onto the embers of the dying fire. They walked down the beach, back to the hotel. Solex and Lord Kye stayed behind.  
  
Lord Kye looked at Solex. He'd been there the whole time he had. What were his intentions? Whatever it was he wanted, Kye would make sure no harm came to the young girl. He waited a little while longer, then headed back to the hotel as well. Solex left after Kye.  
  
When the two girls made it back to the hotel, almost all of the lights were off. Quietly they made their way inside. The lobby was dark and Kyra had to guide Summer to the stairs. Summer tripped on the first step and both girls had to stop and cover their mouths to keep from making noise.  
  
Kyra and Summer were walking on the level before theirs to the next staircase. Suddenly they heard a loud moan. Both girls stopped and looked each other. "Did you hear that?" Summer whispered. Kyra nodded. They heard another loud moan. The girls looked back to see what room it came from. Sneaking over to it, they put their ears to the door and listened. Soon another moan was made and then shouts. Kyra's eyes widened when she realized that a woman was yelling 'harder! Harder!". Summer choked back a laugh when she heard it.  
  
Summer and Kyra backed away from the door. Kyra murmered to her friend, "Should I knock on their door and yell something?"  
  
"Do it, I dare you," Summer said.  
  
Kyra hesitated for a second. "Come on, do it," Summer urged. Kyra pounded on the door three times and then yelled, "HEY! Keep it PG-13 rated, would ya!" Summer was already on a mad dash to the stairs as Kyra finished. Summer waited at the foot of the stairs as Kyra ran over to her.  
  
"Gogogo!" Kyra ran up the stairs behind her friend. Both made it up the stairs before either heard a door open so they figured they were safe. Kyra hurriedly opened the hotel door and rushed in. Summer closed the door softly behind them. Kyra grabbed a pillow and buried her face in it trying to stifle the loud laughter. Summer used her sweater to cover her mouth. The room was dark and it seemed everyone had gone to bed.  
  
Kyra was finding it hard to breath from the fit of laughter. She got up and went into her bedroom, gasping for air. Summer followed her and closed the door. "Oh my god! I can't believe you did that!" Summer managed to get out.  
  
"Did you hear what he said?"  
  
"No, what?"  
  
"He was like 'Hey! Fuck off god dammit!'. I swear I thought he was going to come out and catch us or something."  
  
The girls laughed more, but eventually they got it under control. Putting away their stuff, they dressed in their pajamas and went to bed. Even though they were hyper, it didn't take long for them to fall asleep.  
  
**************************************  
  
In the morning, Kyra was the first one up. It was almost 7:00. She was anxious to think about last night. Kyra was lounging on the couch drinking a hot cup of tea. She didn't often drink it, but it was calming in the morning.  
  
Kurama got up and dressed. Hiei was laying on his bed, but not under the covers, in a light sleep. Actually Kurama wasn't sure if Hiei was asleep, but if he was, he didn't want to wake him. As quietly as possible, Kurama went into the bathroom and shut the door. Once he'd finished with all his hygiene routine, Kurama went out into the main area.  
  
Kurama silently closed the door. He was surprised to see Kyra was up. She sat on the couch, head back, eyes closed. For the first time, Kurama saw her as vulnerable—although he didn't know to what.  
  
"Good morning, Kurama," she said, opening her eyes and smiling softly at him.  
  
"Good morning. I'm glad to see you're up." Kurama walked over and took a seat next to his friend. She sipped her tea.  
  
"How are you this morning?" she asked.  
  
"Fine, and yourself?"  
  
"Ok."  
  
"Just ok?"  
  
"I've got a lot on my mind."  
  
"Care to talk about it?"  
  
"Sure, why not. You want some tea?"  
  
"Alright." Kyra handed him a cup of tea. He took it and sipped it politely, waiting for Kyra to start.  
  
Kyra took a deep breath. "Last night, Summer and I were down by the beach just hangin' out and listening to music. The whole time we were followed by someone."  
  
"Who do you think it was?" Kurama asked calmly.  
  
"I'm pretty sure it was Solex. I wouldn't have cared really, but it seemed weird that of all the times he could have watched me he picked that time. I mean, I didn't even hint to anything that could help him."  
  
"Could it be that he wants something else that you're not aware of?"  
  
"Yes, but that day at the castle, he made it quite clear what he wanted." She sighed.  
  
"Is there something else you aren't telling me?" Kurama eyed her.  
  
She squirmed a bit in her seat. "He wasn't the only one watching me last night."  
  
"There was another?"  
  
Kyra nodded. "Mmm-hm. It was a spirit demon." This seem to shock Kurama.  
  
"What could they want with you?"  
  
"Well, it's not really a they, it's more of a them. See, I've noticed two of them watching me occasionally, like they're trying to figure me out. The others don't really seem to care."  
  
"You think they know who you are?"  
  
"I think they're working on it."  
  
"Do you know who they are?" Kyra didn't say anything. When Kurama looked at her, she was staring at the inside of her cup.  
  
"Kyra?" he asked.  
  
"I...I don't know...yet." Kurama was about to ask her another question when Hiei stalked out of their room. The fire demon was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he walked over and sat in a chair. Kurama mentally cursed his bad luck.  
  
"What are you two being so secretive about?" Hiei asked.  
  
"Nothing, we were just talking about what I was doin' last night."  
  
"Which was?"  
  
"Not much."  
  
"Hn."  
  
The three of them sat there in silence for a while, but it wasn't long before Kyra started up a conversation all three of them could be part of.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
A/N: Ok, well that's the chapter. I forgot to tell you, if you wanted me to do an alternate universe, it would consist of a Kurama/Hiei pairing. Just thought I should mention that ^_~. Review! 


	18. Alone time

A/N: I've run out of ideas as to how to get people to review. I would give everyone a flying monkey from the Wizard of Oz, but I can't afford it. So...I'm just gonna have to hope you find it in your heart to. Maybe this is karma for not reviewing any of the stories I read. 0_0;  
  
********************************************************************  
  
The large group stood on the balcony of the ring watching the fight. They had been joined by Jin and the others. Kyra was off doing something because she didn't want to view the fight and ruin the surprise. Summer was by Shizuru enjoying the show.  
  
"How come you're not with Kyra?" Shizuru asked.  
  
"'Cause I wanted to see the fight. We don't do everything together," Summer replied. "Besides, neither of us are followers."  
  
Shizuru smirked, "I suppose not. Where did she go anyways?"  
  
"Hell if I know..." Summer shrugged her shoulders.  
  
The third fight just ended. This was still the first match of the day, with two more after it. It was about noon, so things would most likely rap up around 2:30. Above where the girls sat, Yusuke and the others were laughing and commenting about the fight. Kurama and Hiei were more focused on the fight.  
  
(During that time in the Forest)  
  
Kyra blazed through the forest on her rollerblades. Traveling along a dirt path, she headed away from the stadium to no specific destination. Her brown bag was strapped around her shoulder, bouncing off her hip occasionally.  
  
Kyra glanced at her watch. She'd been away from everyone for about half an hour. Skidding to a stop, she looked around. The path was getting rougher, too rough for her to go on her rollerblades anymore. Kyra slid them off her feet and walked off the path until she came to a meadow. She walked to the middle of it and sat down.  
  
Kyra crossed her legs, putting her rollerblades and bag next to her. "You can come out if you'd like," she said out loud. The sound of someone walking through the grass was behind her. They stopped a couple feet away from her. She spun around and leaned back on her hands. Before her was Solex, cloaked in his black ensemble as normal.  
  
"Sit," her tone was both commanding and inviting.  
  
"What? You aren't going to scream at me and try to cut my head off?" Solex asked.  
  
"Not yet. Not till I'm sure you're dispensable."  
  
Solex sat down and stretched his legs out to the side, leaning back on his hands also.  
  
"Why don't you take off your cloak. It is pretty warm out. Besides, there's no one around. They're all at the stadium."  
  
"Hn, I don't see why not." Solex pushed back his hood and undid the clasp. He folded it into a ball and set it down next to him.  
  
Kyra was more than shocked. The man that was out for her life couldn't be more than 25 years old! With his voice being as low as it was, she was almost positive that he'd been old.  
  
"You look surprised. Why is that?" Solex asked, a small smile on his face. Kyra realized that her mouth was open and she quickly closed it and looked away. Heat flooded in her cheeks and she knew she was blushing.  
  
"I didn't know you were so...young. I thought for sure that you were older."  
  
"I'm only 5 years older than you."  
  
Kyra sat up straight and put her hands in the small hole her legs made. Things weren't exactly adding up the way she thought. Solex wasn't who she thought he was. He was too young to be the murderer of her mother. But then where was the man who did? And what did Solex want with her? She didn't remember a lot from that night. One thing she did know was the men had been dressed in a black cloak. When she was older, she was finally able to figure out who it had been through some research.  
  
"I know what you're thinking," Solex acknowledged. Kyra looked at him through the corner of her eye. "And you right, I'm not the killer of your mother."  
  
"If it wasn't you, then who was it?" Kyra still hadn't turned her head to look at him.  
  
"It was my father, who died in the process...along with several others. I'm not sure of the details, but one of the men that came back told us that your mother launched a suicidal attack."  
  
Kyra fell silent. Solex watched her as she stared off into nothing. He wondered if she was thinking about her mother.  
  
It seemed like forever before either of them spoke. "...why?" Kyra's voice was quiet, like she was talking to herself. But she said it again, with more force, "Why? What the hell could she have done to make you want to kill her?"  
  
Solex was stunned. She didn't know? Kyra didn't know that the real reason for them going there was to take her. They really didn't have any reason to kill her mother; she simply got in the way.  
  
Having acquired this new found information, Solex stood up and put his cloak back on.  
  
"What are you doing?" Kyra's glare was almost enough to make him sit back down. Instead, he put on his hood and turned to walk away.  
  
Before leaving he turned and spoke, "I'm not the one you should be asking that question. If you want to know the answer, go ask your father." With that, he stalked away, quickly disappearing from her view.  
  
Kyra's eyes were wide. Ask her father? What did he know?  
  
(Later)  
  
Everyone was in the dining area eating. Everyone except Kyra. She'd been gone all day. They tried not to worry, but Summer's reassuring words weren't enough. There was a light buzz of noise going on in the dining area, but it seemed a lot different from when Kyra was there.  
  
Summer was sitting on the opposite side of the table then last time. She was setting down her cup when the sight of Kyra walking past the doorway caught her eye. Summer hurriedly got up out of her chair and ran over to the friend. Everyone watched her, barely seeing Kyra's disappearing figure.  
  
"Hey!" Kyra looked over her shoulder to see Summer running up to her.  
  
"What's wrong?" Summer asked upon reaching her friend.  
  
"Nothing, why?"  
  
"Well let's see. You've been gone all day and you didn't come look for me just now."  
  
Kyra glanced at her watch. "Technically, I've only been gone for about 8 hours. Last time I checked, that's not all day. And I already knew you were eating, I was just going to go put my bag in my room."  
  
"Shigjy (that's not a word, it's just something my friend always says. It means a bunch of things like 'sure' or 'whatever'.) I'll come with you."  
  
The two girls walked up to the room. As soon as the door was closed, Summer ask what she had been doing.  
  
Kyra got close and said quietly. "I talked to him. You know that one dude I told you I was here to kill."  
  
Summer nodded, "What about?"  
  
"Well I was trying to figure out why he wanted to fight me and use me and all this other stuff, but it was really weird. He told me I should ask someone else. I don't know why he couldn't just tell me when it's obvious he knows."  
  
"Who are you suppose to ask?"  
  
"You know that one guy on the Spirit Demons team. He's got really long blond hair, wear's the white cape."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well I'm suppose to ask him."  
  
"What would he know?"  
  
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Kyra gave a sigh.  
  
"What's wrong, got a headache?" Summer asked.  
  
"No, but I have been thinking a lot today. Got too much on my mind and I can't sort it out."  
  
"That's what happens when you're a nerd."  
  
"I told you not to call me that."  
  
"So? You still are."  
  
Kyra flopped down onto the couch. Summer sat down next to her. "Are you going to go downstairs?"  
  
Kyra yawned. "Naaa, I think I'll just order room service. I don't have the energy to put up with whatever's down there right now."  
  
"Ok, I'll stay up here with you."  
  
Kyra got up and went to the phone. "You want anything?" she asked while dialing.  
  
"No, I was just about done downstairs. Get me something to drink though."  
  
Kyra told her order to the person on the other end of the phone and hung it up. She then pulled out a deck of cards and sat down across from her friend. The two chatted as they waited for room service.  
  
The waiter brought their food and left. Kyra multitasked, playing cards while she was eating and talking.(Not exactly difficult)  
  
Kyra was only halfway through her meal when the others came up to the room.  
  
"Hey," Kyra greeted as they came in and took seats.  
  
"Where have you been all day?" Shizuru asked.  
  
"Around."  
  
"Could you be more specific?" Kayko asked.  
  
"Outside." Kayko gave an annoyed look. "Kidding. I was just out around in the forest."  
  
"Doing what?"  
  
"Thinking. I value my alone time."  
  
"God knows you need it," Summer muttered quietly. She received a kick from Kyra under the table.  
  
"I thought we had this conversation."  
  
"If we did, I wasn't listening." Kyra kicked her again.  
  
"Ow, ok I'll stop."  
  
Shizuru cut in, "So that's all you really did the whole day? Just sit around thinking."  
  
"Well, actually, I was more walking, but yeah, pretty much. I did make a couple phone calls though."  
  
Kyra put down her cards and started to finish up her food. The room became silent for a moment. "So what did you guys do today?" Kyra asked.  
  
"Pretty much nothing. You were right, this place is dull." Summer laid her head on the table.  
  
"Jeez, I've only been here for about 4 days and already it's a pain in the ass." Kyra put down her clean plate.  
  
"What time is it?" Summer asked.  
  
"About that time," Kyra replied, picking her cards back up.  
  
"Shigjy."  
  
"It's a little past seven."  
  
"Can I borrow your phone?"  
  
"Sure," Kyra dug into her bag and pulled out her cell. Summer picked it up and went into her room.  
  
Kyra coaxed the others into playing cards to pass the time. It wasn't long before her watch beeped 8. Kyra yawned, "I think I'm gonna go to bed early. What time is our fight tomorrow?"  
  
"Ten," Kurama told her.  
  
"Ok, see you guys in the morning." Everyone said goodnight as Kyra headed into her room.  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
A/N: OK, that's all for this chapter. I apologize for being a lazy ass and not writing this chapter sooner. I've been working on my social life as well, so cut me a little slack. Ttyl. Bye. 


	19. Hyped

Kyra woke to sound of her phone beeping. Reaching out from under the covers she turned it off. The clock read 7:30. She'd slept for almost 12 hours and she was still tired. Reluctantly, Kyra pulled her herself out of bed and proceeded to get ready for the day.  
  
Kyra was in her pajamas brushing her teeth when Summer woke up. "Good morning sleepy head," Kyra said after spitting.  
  
"What time is it?" Summer asked groggily.  
  
"Almost 8."  
  
"What time is your fight again?"  
  
"10."  
  
Summer grunted as she got up. Kyra gathered up her stuff and got out of the bathroom. Sifting through her bag she looked for a good outfit to wear for fighting today.  
  
The two girls headed out into the main area of the room where Kyra's teammates were waiting.  
  
"Good morning," Kurama greeted them.  
  
"Morning," Kyra said, flopping down onto one of the couches. Summer grabbed both of them a muffin and then settled down next to her friend.  
  
"I don't feel like fighting today," complained Kyra.  
  
"I think you don't really have a choice," Kurama stated.  
  
"Guess not," Kyra said with a sigh. "We're fighting your friends today, right?"  
  
"Today they aren't our friends," Yusuke informed her.  
  
"Did you guys already decide who you'll be fighting?" Kyra asked.  
  
"I get that shrimp Rinku. I've got a score to settle with him," Kuwabara declared.  
  
"I believe I'll be going up against Touya," Kurama said.  
  
"I can't decide between Jin or Chu," Yusuke rambled. "I think I'll got with Jin since he's the official leader."  
  
"What about you Hiei?" Kyra asked.  
  
"Hn, I don't care, I just want to fight."  
  
"Alrighty then."  
  
Yusuke and Kuwabara started to talk about the upcoming fight. It wasn't long before the others showed up. It was a little before nine when the team decide to head to the stadium to watch the fight before theirs.  
  
"Hey, I'll catch up with you guys later," Kyra stated as they were getting ready to leave.  
  
"Where are you going?" Kurama asked.  
  
"I got to go do something to get myself pumped up or something. I'll see you guys at the stadium." Kyra and Summer then left, hurrying out of the room.  
  
Once in the lobby, Kyra noticed her friend, Mr. Franc. He also saw them and motioned for them to come over. They walked over quickly.  
  
"Hello Mr. Franc," Kyra greeted.  
  
"Hello to you too," Mr. Franc replied. "I wanted to talk to you."  
  
"What about?"  
  
"Well, I was told a very interesting story by my friends the other day and as soon as I heard it, I thought of you."  
  
"Hmmm...must've been either really funny or really embarrassing."  
  
"You are correct." He cleared his throat. "It happened two nights ago, to a couple of friends of mine." Kyra and Summer looked at each other.  
  
"Apparently they were being very intimate when there was a knock on the door. A woman's voice could be heard telling them to keep it down...keep it PG-13 rated. Ring any bells?"  
  
Kyra and Summer covered there mouths, trying desperately to not laugh. The efforts were in vain as they busted out laughing. They started to run for the door.  
  
"I'll take that as a yes!" Mr. Franc yelled after them, smiling himself.  
  
The two girls literally sprinted out of the hotel, laughing loudly. They stopped not too far, trying to catch their breath. Once that was accomplished Summer spoke, "I can't believe we got caught."  
  
"I don't think we're caught. I'm sure he's not gonna tell."  
  
"Oh my God! That was fuckin' funny."  
  
"Well I think I'm hyped up now. Come on, let's go for a walk." The two girls took a long way to the stadium.  
  
The rest of the group was waiting in the small room for the fight to end. It was about 9:30 when Kyra came in. Summer was already sitting with Kayko and the others.  
  
"Hey guys, I'm not too late am I?"  
  
"Naa...they ain't even done with 4th fight yet," Yusuke said nonchalantly.  
  
"I take it you're feeling ready to fight now," Kurama commented.  
  
"Yep. Oh-my-God! I have something really funny to tell you." Kyra quickly explained about the event that happened a couple of nights ago and then what her friend said this morning. By the time she had finished, Yusuke and Kuwabara had collapsed on the floor laughing and Kurama was clutching his ribs. Hiei was sitting in the window mumbling something about a crazy ass bitch, a smirk on his face.  
  
Soon after they got control, they were called to the stage. Taking their place at the side of the arena, they waited for things to get under order. Yusuke and Jin were then called the stage to decide how the fights would go. It was the same as last time. One on one fights, 5 wins advance you to the next round. The two stared at each other for a second or two and everyone could tell they were anxious to fight each other.  
  
The other four looked at Kyra, obviously signifying that she was to go first. "Alright..." she said with an aggravated sigh. Kyra put her hands on the edge of the stage and flipped herself up on it, slightly showing off her flexibility. She saw Sazuke start to step forward, but was stopped by Chu's outstretched arm.  
  
"Hold on mate, I got this one," Chu said, a rather large smile on his face. He scrambled up onto the stage.  
  
Kyra shook her head at the drunk, murmuring under her breath, "...fucker." 


	20. Chu vs Kyra

A/N:............................review? Is that what I'm suppose to say?  
  
Kyra watched Chu make his way to the center of the stage. She repeatedly told herself that she wasn't going to fight him, knowing very well what he would try to do in the process.  
  
Koto yelled into her mic, "The first round will be between Chu and Kyra! Let the match begin!" The buzzer went off signaling for them to start.  
  
"I've been waiting this whole tournament to fight you," Chu said with sheepish grin.  
  
"I thought you had been training these last couple of years to fight Yusuke?" Kyra replied.  
  
"That's before I met you. A chance like this might not come up again," smile still plastered on his face.  
  
"It's too bad you didn't sort your priorities," Kyra sighed.  
  
"We'll see about that."  
  
Kyra put her arms out in fight position, and slightly bent her knees. "Ladies first," she said, her own smile coming through.  
  
"Oh c'mon now, no need to be like that," Chu countered back.  
  
"You have no idea what I've got in store for you," Kyra's sadistic tone sent shivers down Chu's spine, although his sick mind was interpreting her meaning differently.  
  
Chu straightened, standing tall and sized her up. Her sunglasses hid her blue eyes. She was wearing a black tanktop that hugged her upper body enough to not be loose. For pants she had cameo cargo's that tied at the top. He knew she'd been holding back so far in the tournament and he didn't really have any idea what she was made of.  
  
Kyra motioned with her fingers for Chu to make the first move. Planning his move as strategically as possible for him, Chu swiftly started to move forward. He was faster than before, but that wouldn't matter to her. It's not like she knew what he was like before. Chu moved in a zigzag, leaving the after images of himself as he moved. As he zoned in on his victim he positioned himself for a fist attack.  
  
Kyra watched Chu riveted. She wasn't fooled by swift moves and multiple images. Kyra doubted that Chu had noticed her back foot, which was pivoting on its toes the opposite way he moved.  
  
Quickly Chu got close enough to make an attack. Kyra avoided it easily enough by bending backwards. Once she straightened up, her opponent started with his assault. Chu was faster than Kyra had first expected, but she could dodge him none-the-less.  
  
Kyra got the first hit. Chu had tried to uppercut her, but Kyra had backed flipped onto her hands and kicked him square in the jaw sending him stumbling back. Kyra landed on her feet and watched her opponent.  
  
Chu rubbed his mouth. "That was a pretty good kick," he said wiping a small drop of blood from the corner of his mouth. "But I hope you can do better than that."  
  
"I could say the same about you. You're just trying to mess with me. Show me what you really got." Kyra took her fighting stance.  
  
"Whatever you say doll."  
  
--, "....."  
  
Chu's face took on a more serious expression, even though he still had a small grin on. He clenched his fists into balls and proceeded to power up. He sucked in air as his ki began to get stronger. It glowed around him.  
  
Kyra never even flinched during the whole thing. She hadn't forgotten the last time he'd done this...but that was two years ago. And since he was stronger, it would be easier for him to become light headed. A plan had already formed in her head, along with a back up one incase the first didn't work.  
  
While that was happening below, a viewer stepped out onto the balcony next to the Spirit Demons team. He looked to be in his mid-forties, had long black hair that was pulled back into low ponytail. The man was tall, wearing a white kimono shirt and baggy black pants. A silk cloak was draped over his shoulder making him look very important, which he was.  
  
Lord Kye turned around at the sound of footsteps behind him. He relaxed when he saw who it was. "Tsuko, it's nice to see you again." Kye extended his hand.  
  
Tsuko reached out and shook Kye's hand, "As it is you, Kye."  
  
"I wondered when you would get here."  
  
"How's she doing?" Tsuko walked over to the railing.  
  
"Fine so far. I haven't seen anything too spectacular, yet."  
  
"That's a good thing."  
  
"Why do you say that?"  
  
"Well if she does anything too special, she could blow any cover she's using right now."  
  
"I honestly don't think that's much." Tsuko nodded, watching the fight.  
  
Chu had finished powering up, and like she'd expected, lost his balance from the head rush, collapsing onto the arena floor. He sat crossed legged, hands on his knees.  
  
"Sorry about that, I tend to get a little light headed when I power up," Chu explained with a smile."  
  
Kyra smirked, "I know." Chu looked at her in surprise. Suddenly there was a blast of air as Kyra's spirit energy went up a little. For a second it looked like she was going to attack him while he was down. But then Kyra went back to her normal level.  
  
Chu let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to attack me there for a minute."  
  
"The thought did cross my mind. Did I scare you?"  
  
"Of course not," Chu replied scrambling to his feet.  
  
"Good." Chu took a moment to rub his eyes. Kyra took the opportunity to vanish.  
  
"Kyra's disappeared!" Koto yelled into her mic. Chu, startled by the announcement, opened his eyes and frantically searched around to see that she had indeed disappeared. Something in the air caught his eye. It was one of the small daggers she had been carrying around her hips.  
  
Suddenly he was delivered a hard blow to the stomach. Kyra had come in low and punched, backing her fist up with spirit energy. Chu doubled over in pain. Kyra then spun on her foot and kicked him in the head, sending him flying across the stage. Finally, she caught the blade as it came back down the ground, sheathing it.  
  
Chu struggled for a moment getting to his feet, clutching his gut.  
  
"This is what you get for holding back Chu."  
  
Chu smirked, "That was a pretty good trick you pulled, distracting me with your blade."  
  
"Thank you. I hope you learned your lesson though."  
  
Chu recovered quickly and positioned himself for an attack of his own. Kyra backed up putting distance between them. Just as she stopped, Chu launched himself at her with a speed ten times as fast as his first attack.  
  
Need less to say, Kyra was caught off guard and received a blow to gut, hurling her back several feet. She flipped in time and landed on her feet. As she still skidded across the arena, Chu came at her again unleashing a furious attack of punches.  
  
Kyra was able to deflect most of them by crossing her arms in front of her face in a defensive manner. But when he made an attempt to strike her in the ribs on her left side with a kick, she blocked with both arms, leaving her open for one of his fist attacks. He took the opportunity and uppercut her in the jaw.  
  
Her body was pushed into the air making a sort of rainbow before hitting the ground with a crash. Kyra touched her jaw to try and stop the somewhat painful tingly feeling. After a few seconds she flipped up onto her feet.  
  
"Now you know why I was holding back," Chu said with a small chuckle. "You can barely even keep up with me."  
  
"We'll see who's falling behind in the end. Just because you 'caught me off guard'," Kyra made air quotes on the four words, "doesn't mean I can't beat you."  
  
"What do you mean: 'Caught you off guard'?" Her statement had confused Chu. She certainly looked like she had been taken by surprise.  
  
But Kyra didn't answer him, just let him drift in his own thoughts. He was somewhat angered, but past it without really thinking about the meaning.  
  
Kyra readied herself for his next attack. Most of the time, she went on the defensive, working off of her opponent's battle style to conserve energy. If there was ever a time to do that, this was the time. She would need everything she had later in the tournament.  
  
Chu sprinted towards her, spirit level rising. But Kyra was ready for him now. She went from being just barely able to defend herself to almost untouchable. The first time Kyra had let him make contact so she could get a feel for what she was up against. Letting him hit her let her know what his potential was. After distinguishing that he was a powerful fighter, she'd still be able to beat him with less than half her energy.  
  
Chu stopped his assault, a little breathless. Either his eyes were playing tricks on him or Kyra had just gotten ten times faster as well.  
  
"Is something wrong Chu?" Kyra asked sarcastically.  
  
"Not for long," Chu replied, preparing himself for a powerful spirit attack. Gathering his ki into his hand, he hurled a volleyball-sized amount of it at his opponent. It looked like the attack would hit Kyra dead on, when she didn't move.  
  
To the surprise of everyone who was watching, Kyra shot a weak blast of her own ki at the advancing orange ball. The bright yellow of her energy encased Chu's completely. Just as it hit Kyra, she caught it and amazingly enough the thing didn't explode! In fact, the energy seemed trapped.  
  
"Hey! What did you do!?" Chu asked furiously, angered by the fact that she had received zero damage.  
  
"I've trapped your energy in a covering of my own. So your energy is now mine," Kyra explained.  
  
"I don't believe it! I practically gave her my own energy!" Chu mumbled to himself.  
  
"If you'd like it back, I'd be glad to give to you," Kyra smiled with mischief.  
  
"No, that's ok."  
  
"What? You want it back? Are you sure?"  
  
"I said I didn't want it."  
  
"Well if you want it, I'm not going to keep it from you."  
  
"I TOLD YOU I DON'T WANT IT!" Chu yelled.  
  
"Ok, ok, I'll give it back, hold your horses." Kyra threw the ball into the air and spiked the small orb with as much force as she dared to show. The attack headed straight towards Chu at a speed much greater than when he had thrown it. Chu was still able to avoid it.  
  
"Ha! You missed!" Chu boasted. Kyra merely smiled at him. Behind him, the small orb headed for the wall, demons screaming as their fate headed ever closer. By some miracle, it bounced off the wall and head back to the ring. Chu, oblivious to what just happened, was hit in the back, totally unaware.  
  
"Chu has been hit from the back. I'll start the count: 1.....2......3.....4....he's getting up!"  
  
Chu struggled to get up. The once happy-go-lucky man now looked thoroughly pissed. Not only had he been attacked from behind, but by with his own energy as well. And all Kyra could do was smile that I-told-you-so smile.  
  
After getting to his feet, Chu started to power up. "Alright, I'm done going easy on you!" Chu made two ki blasts, one in each hand, twice as big as the first. He chucked them both at her. Then he made two more and threw those at her as well.  
  
_I have to take the damage_ Kyra thought. If she deflected them like she wanted, it could raise suspicion, so she'd have to deflect the first two and let the others hit her.  
  
Kyra folded her hands together and hit the first blast away. The bringing her arms back up, she was able to sent the second one into the air. Turning fast so that none of the oncoming attacks would hit her vital parts, she allowed them to strike her.  
  
There was a loud explosion as dust and debris shot into the air. Onlookers roared with excitement at the damage while team members looked on with horror. As if that wasn't enough, Chu then created a massive ball of ki and hurled that into the large dust cloud and another greater explosion occurred.  
  
"Chu has just unleashed a brutal attack!" Koto screamed with excitement. "So far we can't see any damage done to Kyra, nor anything to confirm she's still there!"  
  
"Yeah! Chu won the battle!" Rinku cried in joy, hopping up and down. "There's no way she survived that attack."  
  
The other three watched on in anticipation. They knew better than to jump to conclusions, although they felt the same thing.  
  
The smoke started to clear and there was still no sign of Kyra. Suddenly, a figure emerged from the cloud, jumping high into the air. It was Kyra, in a somewhat tattered state.  
  
"My turn!" she yelled above the crowd. Bringing her hands back, a tiny white orb appeared between them, growing to the size of a basketball. "Spirit Blast!" Kyra roared as she sent the blast straight for her opponent.  
  
Chu was too weak to avoid the attack and was sent hurling into the wall. Kyra cut off the attack and landed on the arena in a tight crouch to soften the impact. She stood tall, knowing very well that she had won the match.  
  
Koto ran to the edge of the stage, "Chu has been knocked out of the arena. I'll start the counting. 1..........2...........3............4."  
  
Kyra crossed her arms, proud of herself. There wasn't anyway to deny the fact that she had been forced to pull off something surprising, or Chu's last attack would have been a devastating one. The cloud of smoke had hid her as she deflected it to the ground and not at her. Though she was able to hold off showing anything truly spectacular, it might not be as easy next time.  
  
Kyra was pulled out of her thoughts at the sound of Koto finishing the ten count, Chu being helped by his team mates to get out from underneath the rubble of the wall.  
  
"Team Urameshi wins the first fight!" Koto announced. Kyra walked off of the stage to her own team, who seemed a little more than shocked to say the least.  
  
"What?" Kyra asked.  
  
"It's nothing," Kurama responded.  
  
"Nothing!" Kuwabara yelled. "She just took all those attacks and can still walk off the stage in one piece! When Yusuke fought him he barely came out with his life."  
  
"Kuwabara that was two years ago. We've all grown in strength and even Yusuke would have found it easier to beat him this time around," Kurama explained.  
  
"That may be true, but then how strong are you really?" Hiei directed his question at Kyra.  
  
"However strong you want me to be," she replied with a smile.  
  
"Does it really matter? I mean she just beat one of the strongest guys here! I'd say that's a good thing," Yusuke laughed.  
  
Their conversation came to an end as the next fight began. Rinku stepped into the ring.  
  
A/N: Ok, Ok, I feel like a total ass for making you guys wait so long. I'm deeply sorry, but I decide how I wanted this fight to go or if I was going to show the other fights as well. I don't know...anyways, enjoy. 


	21. Tsuko makes his appearance

The rest of the fights were definitely exciting. Kuwabara easily beat Rinku, making sure not to fall for any tricks the little kid had ready for him. The small demon child had come with numerous toys, each one holding its own special power. But Kuwabara had shocked everyone with his own, sending his opponent into the ground with a fierce punch.  
  
When Kurama and Touya had battled, bloodshed had been plenty. The ice master had gotten several good shots with his ice shards and sword. Kurama countered with his own improved abilities, using his plants to stop his foe in his tracks. Once Touya had broken free from his bondage, Kurama unleashed a deadly attack with his Rosewhip. The fight ended with Touya staying down for ten counts.  
  
Hiei's battle with Sazuka had been shorter than the rest. The blonde man was quickly overcome by Hiei's incredible speed. Sazuka did put up a pretty good fight, but it was pretty clear he didn't really have much of a chance. The smaller demon quickly knocked his enemy unconscious.  
  
Last but not least, Yusuke and Jin battled. It was definitely the best fight of the day. Jin turned into a tornado and took out a big portion of the stadium. Yusuke barely managed to fight through the winds to punch the Wind Master. Then there was an exquisite display of spirit blasts and wind attacks. Yusuke won with a tricky attack enabling Jin unconscious for just a little more than ten counts.  
  
The group of five went through the corridor leaving the stadium. They stopped in the side room to receive medical attention. Kyra went and got out a first aid kit and set it on the table. Kurama and Yusuke were hurt the worst out of all of them. They were all pretty tattered up, except for Hiei who seemed to only have a few minor scrapes and bruises.  
  
A little after a minute, their friends came down to assist in healing. Kurama was removing his shirt, being careful of his injuries. He was somewhat hesitant because Kyra was there, feeling embarrassed when she happened to glance over. Kyra assisted Yusuke (who had lost his shirt in the fight), cheerfully handing her job over to Kayko when the younger girl asked.  
  
When Kyra asked Kurama needed any help, he accepted, again feeling embarrassed. He watched as she cleaned his wounds with skilled hands.  
  
"You've done this before?" Kurama asked as she applied just the right amount of pressure.  
  
"Many times," Kyra responded smiling at him.  
  
"On yourself or others?"  
  
"Both."  
  
"You really should tend to your own wounds."  
  
Kyra looked down at her arms, "They'll be fine for now."  
  
There was silence for a couple of seconds as Kyra focused on what she was doing. Kurama finally asked a question he found he couldn't explain. "How did you avoid Chu's last attack?"  
  
Kyra glanced up at him. "I didn't really. I just redirected it to the ground to minimize the damage as much as I could. Of course he didn't know that because of the smoke."  
  
Kurama sucked in air through clenched teeth as Kyra ran the alcohol- drenched cotton ball over a part on his chest. "Sorry," Kyra apologized, dabbing the cut lightly.  
  
"It's alright." The two kept silent as Kyra worked. Kurama could feel the smallest of warmth go into each injury; a sure sign that Kyra was putting in tiny bits of her own energy to help clean and heal him. He wanted to tell her to stop and not waist her energy on him, but that would mean revealing it to everyone else what she was doing, so Kurama kept his mouth shut.  
  
Once Kyra was finished bandaging the last of his injuries, Yukina presented him with a shirt to wear. He thanked the ice maiden for being prepared for after the fight. She smiled and then went over by Hiei to see if he needed anything. He shook his head and gave a quiet but polite 'no'.  
  
Kurama then assisted Kyra with her own abrasions. Most of them were on her arms, but there were a few on her stomach and legs. She'd most likely take care of those herself. When Kurama took a second look at her stomach, he saw what looked to be white, possibly from a bandage.  
  
Kyra's arm came to cover over the area where he was looking. Kurama gave her a questioning look. It was obvious he wanted to say something.  
  
[_What?_] Kyra had opened her physic channel. It wasn't the first time they had communicated like this.  
  
[_Why do you have bandages around your waist? I thought you said those injuries weren't serious._]  
  
[_They aren't. They just haven't healed like I thought they would_.]  
  
[_Which was_?]  
  
[_The skin that was cut won't heal back together. There's still a thin line where the claws dug in. I think the only thing keeping my wounds together is dried blood. Not only that, but almost all of the ribs on my left side are broken_.]  
  
Kurama almost stopped what he was doing. [_You've been fighting this whole time with such a serious injury!_] He couldn't believe it. Not only was it a weakness, but if she should receive any more damage to it, the result could be substantial.  
  
[_Don't worry about it Kurama, I've taken every precaution to make sure it won't be reopened or slow me down_.] Kyra gave him a reassuring smile.  
  
That evening, everyone had gathered down in the dining area, say for the girls who had stayed with Kyra and Summer for something that they refused to tell about. Most likely girl talk. The guys were sitting with the Rokuyukai team, discussing their fights. Thankfully, there were no hard feelings; except for Chu who seemed a little depressed the Kyra had quite clearly kicked his ass.  
  
Conversation had quickly changed subject when the Spirit demons entered the room. They came in with all their glory, like usual, for they were a powerful and respected race of demons. But that's not what made everyone turn to look. It was the appearance of a new member that made everyone talk.  
  
Walking right next to Lord Kye was Tsuko. The man was ruled as a god for what he did. Of all the creatures on the Earth in all worlds, he was named as one of the most important. He was human, but because of his power and his job, Enma granted him and his wife immortality. Tsuko was the sensei to the Portal Keepers. Many of the onlookers gazed in appall at the man, but those who were smarter knew what his appearance meant. If he was here, then that meant that among them could be Portal Keeper as well.  
  
Kurama was horrified on the inside, but kept calm. Everyone watched them as they took a seat. None of them seemed fazed by the stares of others. Finally Yusuke broke the silence by asking what was going on. Koenma explained to both him and Kuwabara just exactly who it was that had everyone all hushed. They didn't seem as awed to see him as the rest.  
  
It didn't take long for a soft hum erupted of people talking. The noise level quickly grew to a normal conversation. The Spirit Demons and Tsuko didn't seem to mind and discussed their own matters.  
  
"I don't see her down here," commented Kye.  
  
"Figures...she probably sensed me. That or it's just a coincidence." Tsuko wasn't the least surprised.  
  
"Are you talking about that Kyra girl on the Urameshi team?" asked one of Toran's teammates.  
  
"God, I can't stand her," Toran remarked.  
  
"Why is that?" asked his father, who had a small smirk on his face.  
  
"She's so immature. There's no way you can fight someone who isn't being serious. I hope I get to fight her when are teams face off together in the next couple of days. I'll show her what a real fighter is." Toran seemed satisfied with his motives.  
  
Kurama and the others soon heard what sounded like laughter, since they were close to the door. There was a soft thud and Jin said he could hear Kyra's voice. Kurama prayed she wouldn't come in here before he got a chance to talk to her. The noise soon faded out and Kurama let out a soft sigh to himself.  
  
But that relief didn't last for long when Kyra soon appeared, standing next to the table in all her wildness.  
  
"Hey guys!" she said; it seemed she was out of breath.  
  
"Hey..." Kurama replied.  
  
"What's up?"  
  
"Nothing," Kurama paused for a second. "Why are you out of breath?"  
  
"Because I said something wrong to Summer and she chased me all over the building. But then she gave up and locked me out of the room."  
  
"How are we suppose to get back in?" Hiei asked.  
  
"Don't worry, she'll be over it in a little bit. I got a plan."  
  
"What did you say?" Yusuke questioned.  
  
"You don't want to know," Kyra giggled. "Besides, you wouldn't get it anyways. It's an inside joke."  
  
"Always with the inside jokes," Kurama sighed.  
  
"Shut up Kurama. I got inside jokes with you too." That's when Kyra realized how quiet it was in the room. "How come it's so quiet?"  
  
"Look over by the Spirit Demons." Hiei said nodding over in their direction.  
  
Kyra glanced, and for a split second, made eye contact with Tsuko. Kurama watched as she made no indication of knowing him.  
  
"What about 'em?"  
  
"Didn't you see their newest member?" Touya asked.  
  
"Yeah. What's so special about him?"  
  
"That's Tsuko," Hiei explained, "a master martial artist. He's also the sensei to Portal Keepers."  
  
"Portal Keepers? I think I know who they are." Kyra remained poker faced the entire time. Kurama held back a chuckle. It was amazing how well she could lie, but when he thought about, she had had plenty of practice over the years.  
  
"At least you aren't as oblivious as the fool and detective."  
  
"Thanks. I try to get around, you know, keep up a good social life."  
  
"Hey! It's not our fault we've never heard of the guy!"  
  
"Yeah, just like it's not your fault for being ugly," Kyra said under her breath. Hiei heard this and snickered. "Hey Kuwabara, how come you respond right away when he said fool?"  
  
Kuwabara sweat dropped while his cheeks flushed. Yusuke laughed at his friends discomfort.  
  
Kyra glanced at her watch. "Well I'm gonna go see if Summer's done being mad now. See you guys later."  
  
All of the guys said their good-byes as Kyra exited the room. Tsuko had watched the episode, very pleased with her acting. Kye seemed to be quite impressed with the whole ordeal.  
  
"Well, now she definitely knows you're here," Kye noted.  
  
"Hn, it doesn't matter if she doesn't acknowledge me."  
  
"I'm sure you'll take care of that."  
  
"This is going to be hell."  
  
A/N: Yeah! Aren't you proud of me! I got this one up faster than the last. I wrote it before I lost my idea. 


	22. Caught in the Rain

A/N: This is sort of a filler chapter. It's suppose to be funny, but, I doubt it will be. LOL   
  
The next day, Kyra was up early. She snuck out the window so as not to wake anyone. She was clad in the same attire she wore when she snuck out on that first night, and carrying the same bag full of "stuff". Stepping lightly, Kyra moved fast away from the hotel and towards the water.  
  
Upon reaching her destination, Kyra slowed down to a walk. For a while, she just stood there and stared out into nothing, thinking about the events of the last 24 hours. If everything went the way she expected it to, then she was pretty much fucked. So many things had happened that she hadn't accounted for; like seeing her father again after 10 years and her mentor coming. On top of all that, she still had to deal with the Dark Assailants.  
  
Kyra took out some of the objects in the bag. She studied each one briefly before breaking it and burning it to ashes with her ki. First went the camera chip containing the boat trip and her visit to area below the hotel. Next went those stupid items she had gotten from TJ. It occurred to her last night that anything created by humans or any materialistic things would not help her win this. When she reflected on her recent actions in the past several days, Kyra realized how stupid she'd been. It also became apparent that she hadn't really thought this through very well after all.  
  
After discarding all of the unnecessary items, Kyra took her time going back to the hotel. She turned and watched the sun for a little while, but fear of being caught for being gone too long nagged her.  
  
Tsuko stood by the window of his hotel room after watching Kyra run off. There were several thoughts running though his mind at the time, and most of them had woken him more than once last night. Above all of them was that one nagging, worried filled idea that maybe Kyra wasn't completely aware what was going on herself. And if she did...was she ready to take on the challenge?  
  
This is why he hated her and cared for her more than any of the other portal keepers he had trained. She'd been the most spirited and most hurt. There were times when he wanted to bash her head into the ground and others when he wanted to hold her close and let her know that everything was going to be all right. He done both, but sometimes he couldn't do either, like now. Now he just had to watch her and pray that she didn't do anything too stupid. But the chances of that happening were slim to none.  
  
Kye and he had some talking to do today. The Lord of Spirit Demons had requested that he be told about his daughter. Missing out on the last ten years of her life had been heartbreaking. At first, Tsuko had agreed to it; but now the consequences were popping up in his mind. If she found out...well he didn't even want to think about that. Her temper was a force to be reckoned with.  
  
Tsuko stepped out into the gathering area. Kyra was already there, sitting on the couch with his eyes closed and arms crossed. He looked to be in deep thought; probably didn't sleep much either.  
  
The demon opened his eyes and looked at Tsuko.  
  
"Good morning Kye," greeted Tsuko.  
  
"Good morning, "Kye replied half-heartedly.  
  
Tsuko took a seat in a chair next to his friend. "What's troubling you?"  
  
Kye seemed to drift off for a second before speaking, "You don't know how many times I've wondered if giving her away really was the right thing to do."  
  
"It might not have been the right way, but it was the safest."  
  
Kye looked at the man for a moment before looking back at the wall.  
  
Tsuko continued, "I know it was hard to give her up when she was so young, but we had to make sure she lived. If they had gotten her, the results could have been chaotic."  
  
Kye ran a hand over his face, "I know, I just wish it wasn't so hard."  
  
"If you think it's hard for you, you should walk in her footsteps."  
  
He sighed, "I wish I could help."  
  
"It's a lot easier said than done."  
  
Kye have him a quizzical look.  
  
"Sometimes," Tsuko continued, "helping her isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world. She's changed a lot over the years from human influences." Tsuko paused for a second. "Actually, change isn't really the right word, more developed and acquired. At least that's what I've heard from my 'watchers'."  
  
Kye simply nodded. If he was right, then somewhere in Kyra was his calm, thoughtful little girl. He wondered how much she really had "changed".  
  
While that was going on, another was awake, also watching Kyra as she left. Hiei was always the first one awake, if not the first one to leave his room. He'd seen her leave and now watched her return, jumping into her bedroom window.  
  
To Hiei, Kyra was something he couldn't figure out. He knew there was more to her than she or Kurama let on. Summer...well...he wasn't too sure about her either, but it was in a different way. Kyra's secret had something to do with her being a fighter, at least, that's what his instincts told him.  
  
At this hour in the day though, he didn't really want to rack his brain over it. But, he was determined to find out what her secret was. And before the end of this tournament.  
  
Thankfully the fights of that day were morning ones, because by 1:00 it was storming hard outside. The Urameshi team stayed in their hotel room (not like they had much of choice). Kyra and Summer had went rollerblading and so Hiei looked out the window for them.  
  
"I see 'em," he stated to no one in particular.  
  
Kurama got up off his seat on the couch and went by the window just in time to see Summer slip in a huge puddle of mud and then pull Kyra down with her. Running so fast, they must of been unable to stop. Kyra splashed the mud around in anger. She then pushed her friend, causing the two to start 'wrestling'.  
  
Hiei and Kurama had bursted out laughing and watched in amusement as the two friends continued to get dirtier and dirtier.  
  
"What's so funny?" asked Yusuke.  
  
"Kyra and Summer just fell in the mud," Kurama said trying to stop laughing.  
  
Koenma, Kuwabara and Yusuke all looked at each other before sprinting to the window to get a look. As soon as they saw the drenched pair, they too fell into a fit of laughter. The two had stopped fighting and were looking at them and pointing. They then both reached into the mud and chucked it at the window. They hit their target startling the people in the room, but also making the guys laugh harder.  
  
Shizuru and Yukina got up and went into the girls' room. Yukina went and got some towels while Shizuru opened up the window. Kyra jumped onto the windowsill with Summer on her back carrying their blades. Yukina handed each of them a towel.  
  
"Thanks. I thought they were just gunna stay there and laugh at us," Kyra stated.  
  
"You're welcome," Yukina said politely.  
  
"I think they're still in there laughing," said Shizuru.  
  
"Really? I guess they aren't that smart," Kyra said with a grin. "You get in the shower, I'm going to go and get them back."  
  
"Ok..." Summer said taking off her socks and hurriedly going for the bathroom.  
  
"What are you going to do?" Shizuru asked.  
  
"Share the love..." Kyra pulled off her socks (they didn't have any shoes cause they were rollerblading) and wiped off her feet. Taking her rollerblades, she pulled out the mud that had gotten in it. Shizuru and Yukina had started smiling.  
  
Kyra motioned for Shizuru to open the door, which she did. As soon as it was open, Kyra located her targets and chucked the balls of mud. She had enough to hit all four of the guys, except Hiei, who was laughing his ass off at seeing the faces on his companions. All the girls started laughing really hard too.  
  
Unfortunately for the little fire demon, Kyra had snuck up next to him and gave him a giant bear hug, covering a good part of him with mud.  
  
"Let go of me!" Hiei roared, embarrassed by the close contact.  
  
Kyra dropped him, laughing hysterically. She then made a mad dash back to her room and locked the door.  
  
About an hour and half later, Kyra and Summer came out of their room, all clean. The guys had cleaned themselves up too, Hiei more than a little pissed at what she had done. They walked in and took seats amongst the others, Kyra on the floor, Summer on the arm of the couch across from her.  
  
"Thanks for the mud bath," Kurama said calmly while exchanging a card with another.  
  
"Oh your welcome," Kyra started. "I hear it makes a great cleanser for your skin."  
  
"I'll remember that."  
  
"How far away from the hotel were you?" asked Yukina.  
  
"Almost to the other side. It's amazing how far you can get on rollerblades in that amount of time."  
  
"It's also amazing how fast you can run in socks when it's thundering and lightening," Summer chimed.  
  
The girls giggled a little and then it was quiet for awhile while they played cards.  
  
"Is this all you did the whole time?" Summer asked.  
  
"Pretty much," Shizuru said with a sigh.  
  
Summer and Kyra looked at each other before putting a fist to their mouths and nodding (it's code for lame). "Tired fun..." Kyra said conspicuously under her breath.  
  
"Well do you have a better idea?" Yusuke asked.  
  
"As a matter of fact, I do. You could be playing 20 questions, or charades, or we could turn of the lights and play shadow puppets."  
  
"We don't exactly have a flashlight." Yusuke remarked.  
  
"Hey, you got spirit energy, improvise. Actually, what we should be doing is telling ghost stories."  
  
"Why? You get super freaked out by the ones I tell," Summer teased.  
  
"So?"  
  
"Wait, you can fight demons but you can't stand ghost stories?" Kurama questioned.  
  
"I can't handle scary movies well, either." Everyone started to snicker and laugh. "What!? I'm just being honest."  
  
"Dumb ass." Summer chucked a pillow at her friend's head.  
  
In the end, they settled on playing 20 questions. Yukina asked Hiei if he'd like to play but Kyra pointed out that he'd probably cheat. Not that he wanted to play anyways. They played in pairs and Kyra snagged Kurama as her partner. When some of them raised eyebrows at her pick, Kyra just declared that he was an easy win.  
  
Eventually that game got boring and the group resorted to telling past stories about themselves. Yusuke and Kuwabara talked about all the battles they had been in since Yusuke had become a detective and how he was released from his duties. Kyra and Summer told some funny stories; Kyra wormed her way out of telling any of her fighting stories.  
  
That was enough to keep them amused until it was dinner time. They strode down to the dining area and took their seats at the same table they'd been using the whole time there. Jin, Touya, Chu, Rinku and Sazuka joined them at the table as well. Needless to say, it was quite loud in the room with all of them together like that.  
  
Kyra leaned over and whispered in Summer's ear, "This kinda reminds me of all those Italian families that get together at the Olive Garden, doesn't it?"  
  
Summer covered her mouth to quiet her laugh before speaking in a softer voice, "I know. Except everyone here is adopted." The two girls turned into a fit of giggles drawing some attention.  
  
"Let's play truth or dare," Kyra said after she calmed down.  
  
"Ok, but I want to change something," Summer said.  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Ok, we both have to do whatever the person dares or asks."  
  
"Deal. You go first."  
  
"Ok, truth or dare?"  
  
"Mmmm....truth."  
  
"Who do you like?"  
  
"No one."  
  
"NOLAN!"  
  
"Ha ha, very funny. That joke is so old."  
  
"You're smiling." Summer pointed an accusing finger towards the other girl's lips.  
  
Kyra smacked it away, her small smile breaking out into a large grin. Rinku, who had been sitting across from them and was listening to their conversation, spoke up. "Who's Nolan?"  
  
Summer and Kyra both looked at the younger demon. "Nolan was this guy in our class when we were younger and that was his last name. It always sounded like no one to us so we use to joke about it all the time."  
  
"Yeah, so whenever we asked someone who they liked and they said no one, we always said Nolan back to them. It was really funny."  
  
"At the time. Now it's old. Didn't he move away or something?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Do you want to play, Rinku?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Their conversation was cut short as the waiters started to bring out the food. Once it was all placed on the table, he asked if they needed anything else. The rest said no, except for Kyra.  
  
"Can I get a lemon?" Everyone looked at her except the waiter who asked how she'd like it. (a/n: ::snicker:: Ok that sounded a little dirty, but that's not how it was meant.)  
  
"Just a whole one please. Thank You." The waiter left to retrieve the item.  
  
Everyone was starring at her. "What?!"  
  
"Why did you just ask for a lemon?" Kurama asked. Kyra was about to respond when Kurama suddenly put up a hand to stop her. "Actually, I'd rather not know. You're already weird enough."  
  
"I wasn't going to tell you something stupid."  
  
"I don't care, I still don't want to know."  
  
The waiter came back and handed the washed piece of fruit to the requester. Kyra picked up a sharp knife and cut the lemon in half then into fourths. She handed one slice to Rinku and another to Summer. They seemed a bit confused for a moment.  
  
"Dare, or dare?" Kyra asked. All the others were still watching with interest as to what was going on while they ate.  
  
"Ummmmmmm......" Summer joked, "I think I'll take dare."  
  
"Ok, good choice. Your dare is to eat that slice of lemon."  
  
"Fine, but you have to eat the rest of it," Rinku bargained.  
  
"Shit, she'd eat it anyways. She loves any fruit."  
  
Kyra grinned. "What are you waiting for?"  
  
Summer hesitated a moment and put the piece to her mouth. She stopped when she noticed Kyra watching her. "Stop watching me!"  
  
"What else am I suppose to do? Stand on my head?"  
  
"No! Just don't watch me."  
  
"OK!" Kyra turned and took a big bite of her food. Summer hurriedly ate the slice of lemon, except for the skin, her face instantly scrunching up. Almost as fast she pulled it out and spit into napkin. Kyra almost spit out her food while the whole table bursted out laughing.  
  
"What are you waiting for Rinku?" Chu teased. "You got to do it too."  
  
Rinku hesitated a moment before plopping the juicy piece into his mouth. His face scrunched up even more causing everyone to laugh even harder. But the young fighter wasn't about to give up so easily and struggled to down the small piece. Surprisingly, he got it down quickly and pulled the skin out of his mouth. There was an applaud from around the table.  
  
"Alright, I ate mine, now it's your turn." Rinku pointed his finger at Kyra.  
  
"No sweat." The table went silent again as Kyra picked up one of the slices. With ease she bit into it, not making a face. She pulled the skin out with the fruit gone, picked up the second slice after chewing a bit, and ate that as well. Everyone at the table had their mouths dropped.  
  
"Damn! I've seen you do that like a 100 times and it still amazes me!" Summer said aloud.  
  
"How'd you do that?" Rinku asked.  
  
"Very carefully," was all Kyra said.  
  
"And here I was thinking you couldn't get anymore strange," Kurama commented taking another bite of food.  
  
"I know, I'm a one of a kind."  
  
"Ok, so you could eat a lemon with making a face. Big deal. It's my turn now. This one's for Kyra, and only Kyra. Truth or dare?"  
  
Chu blurted out, "You guys are playing Truth Or Dare? Yeah! Let me play!"  
  
"NO!" came all three voices simultaneously.  
  
Yusuke laughed, "You didn't even have a chance with that one!" Chu hung his head in defeat.  
  
Turning back to Rinku, Kyra looked straight in his eyes and said, "Dare."  
  
Rinku got an evil look on his face and rubbed his hands together. "Good. Ok, you have to go over by the spirit demons and get all there names." Everyone looked over at where the spirit demons were sitting. There were only four of them. Tsuko, Lord Kye and Toran were not present.  
  
Summer shook her head. OBVIOUSLY he didn't know whom he was dealing with.  
  
"That's the best you can do? Ch! Watch this." They all stared as Kyra took off her sweater to reveal her T-shirt that looked really good on her and said adidas on it. She handed the piece of clothing to her friend and got up out of her seat.  
  
"Dat girl's crazier dan a bird in a storm, walking over there like she's queen of da world," Jin said quietly.  
  
"She very well may be at this moment," Touya replied.  
  
Kyra strode ever so enchantingly over to where the Spirit Demons sat. Just as she was about to reach their table, one of them saw her and the conversation stopped immediately.  
  
"Hi, mind if I sit here?" she asked standing behind an empty chair.  
  
"Not at all," the one closest to her said. Kyra slid into the chair.  
  
"Can we help you with something?" that same one asked.  
  
"Actually, you can. You see my friends over there dared me to come over here and get all of your names. Now I've never been one to turn down a dare. So I was wondering if you would all tell me you're names."  
  
"Well, you did come all the way over here. It would be a shame if you wasted all that energy. My name is Somocho, but you can call me Somo." Somo held out his hand.  
  
Kyra took his hand and shook it. "It's nice to meet you Somo; my name is Kyra."  
  
"Oh, I already know what you're name is."  
  
Kyra gave a small laugh, "I suppose you do." She looked to the next person.  
  
"My name is Oku," the man said holding out his hand as well. Kyra shook his as well.  
  
She did the same thing with Noraku and Yoku. "Could you all do me a favor and look over at them and wave?"  
  
"Sure, no problem." All four demons faced the table and waved, as did Kyra.  
  
"Since I'm over here, mine as well stay and talk a little bit. Digits?" she looked at Somo with a small smile.  
  
"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," he said with a sweat drop.  
  
She only giggled, "That's ok. So how's the food."  
  
"It's pretty good."  
  
"Do you like lemons?"  
  
"As a matter of fact, I do kinda like them."  
  
Yoku spoke up, "You do know we're fighting each other tomorrow."  
  
"Of course I know, but you guys are good sports...aren't you?"  
  
"Most of us. But we won't have to really worry about that, cause we're going to win." He was serious when he said it despite the small smile on his face.  
  
"Don't mind him, Toran's bad mood has been rubbing off on him because they share the same room," Some explained.  
  
Kyra giggled.  
  
"But since we're on the subject, you think there's any chance I might get to see you again after this tournament? Seeing as there won't be any hard feelings or anything." Somo leaned closer to her, putting his arm on the back of her chair.  
  
"Well, well, well, you just a regular ladiez man aren't you?" Kyra teased picking at his shirt by his shoulder.  
  
"You got that right," Oku commented. The other's laughed and Somo kicked him under the table.  
  
Kyra caught the action but ignored it. "Actually, I'm not available right now. Besides, I don't think the guys missing from this table would like it if I saw you again."  
  
Somo leaned back, "Why do you say that?"  
  
"Just ask them. Oh! That's my time! See you guys tomorrow."  
  
"Bye," Some and Oku said, watching her walk back to her table.  
  
Kyra sat down in her chair and began eating.  
  
"So?" Rinku asked.  
  
"So what?" Kyra responded.  
  
"Aren't you going to tell us what happened?" Chu said impatiently.  
  
"Oh yeah," Kyra turned to Summer, "Remind me I have to tell you something later."  
  
"Ok."  
  
"Did you get their names?" Rinku asked.  
  
"Yep. They're Somocho, Oku, Noraku, and Yoku." She continued to eat.  
  
The others looked disappointed at the lack of information, but resumed normal conversations and eating.  
  
A/N: Sorry, I had to cut you off there. This is a lot longer than my other chapters. I would have wrote more, but I'll be gone the next couple of days and won't be able to write so I wanted to get this up. Review! 


	23. Lost my watch

It was late and everyone had gone to bed. Hiei and Kurama were in there room, but neither of them was asleep. Both thought back to the events that had happened at dinner. When Kyra had gone over to talk to the spirit demons, Hiei had used his Jagan to listen in. But he also allowed Kurama to listen as well.  
  
"Fox," Hiei said aloud.  
  
"Yes," Kurama answered from his bed.  
  
"Do you know what she meant?"  
  
"I'm not sure exactly."  
  
"I think you're lying."  
  
Kurama didn't say anything. He didn't want to be put in this position, yet he found that he constantly was.  
  
"Fox," came Hiei's voice again.  
  
"I wasn't lying when I said I didn't know exactly. I do have an idea though."  
  
"Then tell me."  
  
"Ask her. I won't break my promise."  
  
"Hn. Baka kistune." Fine. If that's what he had to do, then he would.  
  
Team Urameshi's fight didn't start until 2:00. It was only 12:00 at the moment and the group was hanging around the dining area. It was much quieter than yesterday.  
  
Kyra really didn't seem to be saying anything; a drastic change from last night. In fact, she was more concerned about Hiei's gaze at her. She didn't know why he was watching her, but could guess that she'd probably find out sooner or later.  
  
And that she did. Once the group had finished eating, they decided to head to the arena. Normally they would have gone to the other one for the semi finals, but since it had been destroyed and not rebuilt...as of yet...they couldn't. Kurama, Hiei and Kyra had lagged behind the others eventually putting a good distance between them so they could break away without being noticed. All three fighters stood in a small clearing enclosed by trees, silent.  
  
Kyra broke the silence first. "What do you want, Hiei?"  
  
The fire demon only stared back. "I heard your conversation last night."  
  
"So?"  
  
"I want to know what you meant."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"About why those other three wouldn't have liked it."  
  
"I would like to know as well." Kurama stated.  
  
Kyra looked from one to the other, thinking about what she should do. Running wasn't an option and lying would be hard since Kurama already know so much. But what would happen if she told the truth?  
  
"I guess you're not going to let 'I can't tell you' slide by, right?"  
  
The two nodded.  
  
Kyra sighed out loud. She crossed one arm over her waist, put her elbow on it and rested her head in her hand while leaning on one foot. "How can I put this...?"  
  
"You could tell them the truth." All three looked to the side to see a figure cloaked in black leaning against a tree.  
  
"What the hell do you want?" Kyra hissed.  
  
"Still haven't figured that out yet. Well maybe it would help if they knew the truth." He crossed his arms.  
  
"Who are you?" Kurama asked none to gently.  
  
"They call me Lord Solex, but you can call me Solex since you seem to friends with her majesty."  
  
"Her majesty?" Both Hiei and Kurama looked over at Kyra who had covered her eyes with her left hand.  
  
"Yes, surely you know that she's the daughter of the Lord of the Spirit Demons and half brother to the prince."  
  
Needless to say, that information was a little more than astonishing. Both demons looked over to see 'her majesty' clenching her fists in an attempt to contain her anger.  
  
Solex stepped closer to the firey girl. "Would you like to know why they are only half siblings?" He saw the two nod once before he stopped only a couple feet from Kyra.  
  
"They had different mothers. Toran's died at his birth while Kyra's was a human; but a very special human. You see, Kyra's mother was Maeko. And I'm sure you've heard that name before."  
  
Hiei's eyes narrowed as the name rang in his ears. Maeko....the human....the...portal keeper. The Koorime look at his friend to see him staring at the ground. Was that the part he did know about? Was that what he couldn't tell him?  
  
"ENOUGH!" Kyra turned to face Solex. "JUST SHUT UP! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO TALK ABOUT SUCH PERSONAL THINGS SO CASUALLY?!"  
  
"It was obvious you weren't going to do it," he responded, seemingly unfazed.  
  
"That's because I couldn't!" she barked.  
  
Solex closed the distance between them faster than Kyra could see. She soon found herself off the ground, being held up at the throat by his strong right hand. "Does it really matter if they know? Because once we fight, everyone will know who you are!" Kyra clawed at his hand and arm.  
  
Solex dropped her as Hiei pulled out his katana and began to attack him. The Dark Assailant easily avoided each swipe of the sword. Unfortunately, Hiei lost track of his enemy, until his voice rang out.  
  
"I've done the hard part, Kyra, now the rest is up to you." Hiei looked around trying to pinpoint where the voice had come from with his Jagan, but he had already fled. Sheathing his katana back up, he walked over to where Kurama stood kneeling next to Kyra.  
  
"Kyra are you OK?" Kurama asked in a gentle voice. No answer. "Kyra...?"  
  
Kyra launched herself off the ground at Hiei, hand outstretched. Kurama tackled her before she could reach him though. Hiei's eyes went big at how fast she had reacted, and how Kurama had even more surprisingly stopped her. Though, he didn't know what for.  
  
"Get off me Kurama! I don't want to hurt you!" Kyra screamed as she lay pinned to the ground.  
  
"No! I won't let you try and erase his memory." Hiei snapped his head to look at the struggling duo. Kurama had grabbed both her hands, holding them behind her back, with his knees pinning her legs down.  
  
"Why not! He's not supposed to know!"  
  
"Neither was I. But I do anyways."  
  
"That's because you gave me a reason to trust you! NOW GET OFF!" Kyra threw her body into a roll, throwing Kurama off of her. She then sprinted up and tried to reach for Hiei's face, but again Kurama stopped her—this time hooking his arms under her shoulders. The girl screamed in frustration  
  
"Kyra stop it! You don't have to erase his memory!"  
  
"YES....I....DO!!!"  
  
"No....you don't." Both strugglers stopped arguing to look at Hiei. Kyra stopped trying to pull Kurama's arms off of her, though Kurama continued to keep them locked there.  
  
Hiei continued, "You don't have to erase my memory, because I won't tell."  
  
"How can I be sure?"  
  
Hiei hesitated for a moment. "Yukina is my twin sister. I would kill the person who told her this."  
  
"You're going to have to give me a little more than that."  
  
"We were separated at birth when I got tossed off the island. She's been looking for her brother, but doesn't have any clue that it's me...at least...I don't think so."  
  
Kyra stared at him for a second. "Alright, I guess that's good enough."  
  
"So does that mean you can tell me what the hell is going on. Someone like you wouldn't just come here to help us by being a fifth member."  
  
"Yeah..." she sighed. "But first, Kurama's going to have to let go of me."  
  
Kurama snapped back to reality at her words. He hurriedly unhooked his arms as a sweat drop appeared. Kyra straightened her clothes once he let go.  
  
"It's a long story, so I'll just give you an overview for right now. That guy you just met is the son of the dude that killed my mom, so I'm here to get my 'revenge'. But, coincidentally, my biological father [that I haven't seen in ten years] showed up with a team of his own. To top it all off, my sensei is here, and he's a little strict with me and the rules I'm suppose to be following. So, I'm trying to avoid them while I try and deal with the Dark Assailants."  
  
"Hn...no wonder Kurama couldn't tell me anything."  
  
"Not only that, but I didn't know Lord Kye was her father. She never told me who it was, but rumors were that it was a spirit demon. Of course, now that do know, I can definitely see the similarities between them.  
  
"I do, too."  
  
Kyra stayed silent as they compared her to her father. Her head was starting to hurt from thinking so much. "If you don't have anymore questions, we should probably go catch up with the others."  
  
They both nodded and the small group departed towards the stadium.  
  
When they got there, they found the rest of the gang already waiting in the small room on the bottom floor of the building.  
  
"What happened to you guys?" Yusuke asked.  
  
"Yeah, one minute you're there, the next you're not," Summer chimed in.  
  
"I dropped my watch while we were walking so Kurama and Hiei helped me look for it," Kyra explained.  
  
"I take it you found it," Summer declared.  
  
"Of course. It's my favorite watch."  
  
"Well, now that you're here, why don't we go find some seats," Botan suggested. "The fights should be starting soon anyways."  
  
The girls (plus Koenma) left, wishing them all good luck. The five left waited patiently for the fight to start  
  
A/N: Ok, not much happening in this chapter, but I didn't want to write this then add a big fight scene afterwards. Too much typing at once, if ya know what mean. 


	24. Semifinals: Match one

A/N: Anyone remember if I mentioned Kyra's last name in previous chapters? I can't remember and I'm too lazy to go and look through them. LOL

Oh yeah, this and the next chapter could be quite long...maybe.

Kyra stopped Summer in the hallway so they could talk and so she could help her get ready. The others had gone ahead. Her friend handed her a CD player and she slipped the headphones on. The music embedded itself into her body. It always helped her fight or do anything athletic by setting a sort of rhythm she could move to.

"So....you lost you're watch, huh?" Summer said while Kyra handed her her sweatshirt.

The blue-eyed girl smiled. "What do you think?"

"Welllll.....?" Summer forced out a cheesy laugh.

"They wanted to talk." Kyra smiled a little at the joke.

"Just talk?" Summer asked.

"Yes, just talk."

"About what?"

"Me."

"Ch! That conversation was a lot shorter than it could of been," Summer said sarcastically.

"All I'm gonna say is that they know who I am. I'll fill you in on the details tonight."

"How many details could there be?"

Kyra began her stretches. Several of her bones clicked and cracked as she moved. She placed one of her legs on the wall with her hands wrapped around the ankle.

The guys came out just as she was handing the music player back to her friend. Summer wished her good look and then left to go find the others. Kyra walked with her teammates to the arena floor.

They could he the roar of the crowd before they even emerged from the tunnel. The Spirit Demons were already present, Toran standing in front with his arms crossed and a non-expressional look upon his face. The other four stood beside him, ready to fight.

Yusuke and co. took their place next to the arena floor and waited for Koto to start the fight. She called the team leaders to the stage to decide on the type of fight. The agreement was a special one: two, two-on-two fights, and then the remaining fighters would have a one-on-one match. Each round was only worth one point and in the two-on-two match, both fighters from one team had to be down in order to win. It takes two points to win. Yusuke got confused while it was being explained and simply agreed to it. (Silly Yusuke! )

Koto explained the rules to the audience while teams figured out their game plan.

"Great job, detective," Hiei hissed. "You played right into their hand."

"What? How hard can it be?"

"Yusuke," Kurama explained, "we've all fought together a long time, but they thrive in group battles. This will be a tough battle to win."

"Kurama and I will take the first match," Hiei volunteered. "Then you and the fool can take the next. Kyra will do the one-on-one."

"Watch it shrimp! What makes you the leader anyways! You can't just decided who's gonna fight who!" Kuwabara yelled.

"There's three perfectly good reasons," Kyra said. "The first is the pairings are fine, cause it's buddy with buddy and they _volunteered_ to go first. Second, I'm not very good with team work and I've only know most of you for about a week. And thirdly, you're going to need all the help you can get when you go up against these guys."

"Yeah, gee...thanks."

"Oh, don't take it too personally Kuwabara, it's not your fault you're a little slow," Kyra couldn't help but grin when she heard Yusuke snicker.

"Is team Urameshi ready to fight?" Koto asked from the edge of the stage.

"Yes we are!" Yusuke replied.

"Alright, then let the first match begin! Will the fighters please approach the stage."

Hiei and Kurama jumped onto the stage. They would be fighting Oku and Noraku. They were the youngest of the group and brothers of Yoku (hence the similarity in names).

"Hiei," Kurama said in a hushed voice, "I suggest you not kill any of them. They're some of the few honorable demons out there and they actually care about their teammates."

"Hn. Fine."

"FIGHT!"

The fight began and everyone took a fighting stance. Hiei gripped the hilt of his sword and Kurama pulled out a rose that he transformed into his rosewhip. Oku and Noraku both materialized a bow, but no arrows. The bows were smaller than normal to heighten the speed.

The two Spirit Demons attacked first, each creating an arrow out of energy as they pulled back on the drawstring. Hiei and Kurama jumped in opposite directions as the arrows landed in the cement right where they were standing.

As the fight progressed, it became apparent just how good the spiritual demons were. They were long-range attackers and kept Kurama and Hiei on their toes with an endless amount of arrows flying at them.

Hiei back flipped to avoid an oncoming arrow and sprinted towards the two demons at a brisk speed. To fast to hit him with his weapon, Noraku sprang forward as well to meet his attacker. There was a clash as the fire demon made repeated attacks on the said spell-caster with his katana. His opponent blocked each swing with his bow.

"Hiei! Watch out!" Kurama yell.

Hiei turned to see an arrow heading straight for him and twisted his body in hopes of dodging it. It skinned his left shoulder, ripping the shirt and creating a small scratch. The Koorime jumped back and regrouped with Kurama.

"Damn it, at this rate we'll never get a hit in," Hiei hissed so only Kurama could hear.

"Indeed. We need a plan."

"Or maybe we just need to use bigger attacks." The fire demon tore off the bandana to reveal his Jagan eye.

"If we wedge them apart, they won't be able to assist the other, making it easier to lead an assault," Kurama tried to reason.

"Fine." Hiei only opened the Jagan part way. His power began to grow a bit as he once again charged at the pair. Their combined efforts to stop them might have worked if plants hadn't sprouted from the cement and distracted them. The smaller demon was able to break them up, sending each a different direction.

As Hiei attacked the same demon as last time, Kurama charged at the other. Both engaged in close combat making sure not to get too close to one another. It seemed to be working, as both members of the Urameshi team got in hit after hit, receiving minimal damage themselves.

Then they suddenly fell into some sort of routine with the Spirit Demons using it to their advantage. When the opportune time came up, they would shoot arrows at their other distant opponent, clearly missing the closer of the two. Kurama was the first to fall victim to this technique after an arrow skinned his right shoulder quite deeply. Oku was then able to knock him down and shoot him with his own arrows. Luckily though, the redhead was able to roll out of the way before getting hurt by any of them.

Both Noraku and Hiei broke apart to rejoin their teammates. The shorter demon stood in front of the injured kitsune in a manner to protect him.

"You ok?" he asked.

"The damage is minor, I can still fight."

"Good, because it looks like they've got something planned for us."

Kurama's only response was a short nod.

It didn't take long for them to conjure something up. Both had been quietly chanting some sort of spell or incantation. The result was the sprouting of their energy in the form of yellow vines. Each one was an extension of one of their hands.

The battle continued with Kurama and Hiei dodging like before. After several injuries they were able to carry out a plan of their own. As Kurama pulled a couple of seeds from his hair and transferred his energy into them, Hiei stood in front fighting off the attackers. In a matter of seconds plants shot out to entangle themselves with the Spirit Demon's energy vines.

He kept the vines occupied while Hiei made an attack with his _Fists of the Mortal Flame_. The plan was successful, not only breaking their concentration, but damaging both opponents as well.

Eventually, the match dwindled down to hand-to-hand combat. Neither side had enough to create a useful energy attack. Hiei and Kurama seemed to have the advantage and it didn't take long for them to knock their opponents out of the ring for longer than ten seconds.

Team Urameshi's fighters were declared the winner and then walked off the stage. The rest of the team ran up to help them.

"You guys OK?" Yusuke asked.

"We're standing, aren't we?"

"Yes you are!" Kyra said slapping him on the back. He visibly shuddered from the pain.

The others chuckled.

"Yusuke, Kuwabara," Kurama's expression having become serious, "be careful. I'm sure your opponents will be stronger. Don't do anything stupid."

"We make no promises!" Yusuke said as he and Kuwabara hurried off to the ring.

"Ten bucks says they fuck it up," Kyra said a little under her breath.

"Probably," Kurama and Hiei said in unison.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: OK...I feel bad about not updating this and now I'll probably have less time 'cause v-ball practice started today. Three hours of grueling torture!

Anyways...I'm going to make some editing changes to the first couple of chapters. I'll put them towards the beginning of the next chapter so you don't have to go back and look.

P.S. I'm seriously considering changing this to a Hiei/Kurama fanfic. But I don't know yet. We'll see how things play out first and what you guys think.


	25. Semifinals: Match Two One

A/N: I decided I won't do the Hiei/Kurama pairing. Some of you would stop reading if I did.

I'm not going to write out all of Yusuke and Kuwabara's fight because I want to get the semi-finals over with. So this will be a combination of Kyra's and Yusuke's fights.

* * *

In all honesty, Yusuke and Kuwabara were stronger than their opponents. But because of their lack of cooperation and ability to strategize, the playing field had been leveled out. They were going up against Toran and Yoku, leaving Somocho for Kyra should they lose.

Both teams were present on the stage waiting for Koto to start the match.

"Yusuke Urameshi," Toran said aloud. "I've heard much about you."

"Thanks. I can't say I've heard much about you though."

"News of our kind doesn't really reach the human world that often."

"I guess that explains it."

"I'm looking forward to a good fight, I hope you don't let me down."

"I wasn't planning on it."

The two teams prepared for the second match of the semi-finals as the buzzer sounded.

Kuwabara and Yusuke silently agreed to make the first move by charging on their enemies. The fight started with hand-to-hand combat and progressed from there. It didn't take long for both teams to pull our their weapons and start using them. Toran and Yoku also used bows and arrows although their specialties were a little different. It turned out that Toran was an expert sniper with his and Yoku's arrows would explode upon contact with anything.

As time wore on, the battle became more violent and fatigue began to take hold of the warriors. Yusuke and Kuwabara, finally having decided to use some real teamwork after fighting with each other through most of the fight and almost staying out of the ring for 10 seconds, made one last attack. It broke through whatever spiritual defense the Spirit demons had left and made the Urameshi team victorious.

The two friends helped each other off the arena stage and over to their team. The other members rushed to help.

"Great job guys! I'm glad to see you won, but I'm pretty sure you pulled that last stunt out of your ass!" Kyra laughed.

"I think we did," Yusuke remarked.

"I have to admit, you had me a little worried there when you started to argue," Kurama spoke up.

"Your faith in us is overwhelming," shot back the hanyou.

Hiei was quick to retaliate, "At least he had faith."

"What's that suppose to mean, short-stuff!" Kuwabara screeched.

"I'm just happy I don't have to fight. I'm wearin' my nice shoes today," Kyra interrupted. They all looked down at the white tennis.

"Onna no baka," mutter Hiei under his breath.

Kyra made a hand gesture behind the shorter demon's back causing Kurama to slightly chuckle. Hiei looked back just in time to see them start to assist Yusuke and Kuwabara back inside the waiting room.

The small group was stopped just outside the entry to the dark hallway leading inside by an announcement.

The sound of Koto clearing her throat was broadcasted through the microphone before she spoke.

"I would like to bring to the committee's attention that Somocho of the Spirit Demon's team has challenge Kyra of the Urameshi team."

Kyra slowly looked back in the direction of the other team. After a minute the large display screen flashed an "O", giving clearance to the match. Her eyebrow twitched once in annoyance.

"As long as both parties agree, there will be another match," the half cat, half fox demon announced.

The male members of the Urameshi team glanced back and forth between each other. Kyra didn't pay any notice to it as she strolled over to the stage. At the motion of the girl's finger, Koto hurried over. Chancing a look as Somo, the she fighter could see a smug grin planted on his face. It made her smile slyly.

"And you decision is?" Koto asked in a confident voice, leaning forward a bit.

"Forget it." The answer was short and simple.

The arena filled with an eerie silence. "Excuse me?" the demon questioned.

"I said forget it."

THUD!

Kyra looked over to see that Somocho had collapsed from shock. When the Spirit Demon recovered, he pointed an accusing finger her way.

"What the Hell do mean 'Forget it'?" he yelled.

"I mean 'no'," she said nonchalantly.

"You can't say 'no'!" His voice continued to rise.

"Why not?"

A pause. "Because, it's the Dark Tournament."

"I fail to see how that makes me unable to say 'no' when I can."

"You really want this on your reputation." His tone and attitude had completely changed, hoping the new approach would change her mind. "People will talk."

"I can live with that."

"Fine. Be afraid."

She gave a short laugh. "If that's what you have to tell yourself to ease the pain of rejection."

As she walked back to the group, the crowd started to speak up. It didn't take less than a couple of seconds for them to reach a deafening roar. They began calling her foul names as well as mocking the Urameshi team for bringing a _weak_,_ female_,_ human_, fighter.

"What do you think your doing?" Hiei asked, pissed off.

"Walking away. Does that bother you?"

"Yes it does. Just because you don't care about what they think about you doesn't mean we feel the same way. We haven't come all this way just for you to blow it."

"Yeah, you're making us look like we ain't got any honor," Yusuke commented.

Kyra looked to Kurama for his response. "I'm afraid they're right," he said. "We've worked hard to get the reputation we have and by you denying this fight makes us look bad."

"Can you imagine how long it'll take for us to fix **your** mistake," Hiei emphasized.

Kyra gave an exasperated sigh. "Kyra," Kurama spoke up. "I know why you don't want to fight, but I don't think this one battle will really make a difference."

"Alright, alright, I'll do it." She walked briskly back to the stage and jumped up. Somo gave an arrogant grin before hopping up as well.

Koto, having taken a look at the situation, spoke into her mic. "It seems that after a brief discussion with her team, and a little provoking from the audience, Kyra has accepted the challenge."

"I'm glad to see you've changed your decision," Somo said smugly.

"Yeah, sure," she replied uncaringly.

"You sound upset."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"What? You don't like me anymore? I mean, you sure seemed friendly last night."

The comment made her smirk. "The way you say it just makes it sound so dirty."

"Maybe it was, a little."

"Ha. Only in your wet dreams."

His face visibly reddened.

"Oops!" she said sarcastically. "It slipped."

Somo's cheeks were still heated. "Whatever," he snapped.

"Don't use that tone with me. You started this whole thing in the first place. It's only fair that I wound your pride to the fullest."

"And just how do you plan on doing that?"

Kyra only shrugged her shoulders and gave a suggestive look.

Somo took a defensive stance and waited as, slowly, Kyra did the same. He analyzed her posture and found surprisingly, many weak spots and openings. '_So much for making me regret this,_' he thought.

Kyra could feel his gaze drop, and the uncomfortableness that came with it. She never had been one to tolerate attention like that to her body. Once he delayed the first attack, she stood up straight.

The demon was snapped out of his less than pure thoughts by her sudden movement and constant tapping of her foot.

"Are you just going to stand there all day or what?" She blurted, trying not to point out just what he was doing exactly to the audience.

"Oh, right." Somo began his assault starting with hand-to-hand combat.

Kyra decided to take on the defensive, jumping and dodging out of the way of Somo's fists. Even though what they were doing wasn't anything spectacular, he still couldn't land a blow.

"Come on, Somo. I know you can do better than that. Give these people a fight worth watching." That's when Somo really put on some the speed. Kyra found herself really concentrating just to keep herself from getting hit. Her large sweater didn't help either. As soon as she saw a break in the fighting she put distance between them and called a "time out" so she could take it off revealing a black skin tight long sleeved shirt. She didn't wear to look sexy—it helped to restrict a certain part of her body he'd been staring at earlier.

Once Kyra was ready to fight again she found that Somo had already summoned a bow and drawn an arrow. He shot it when he knew she was looking, easily allowing her to dodge it by bending almost completely backwards even though her legs were straight. Surprised by her flexibility, he shot two more arrows and they too were dodged in an act of acrobats.

"I honestly don't think you're going to hit me with one of those," Kyra commented.

"Well if I can't hit you with one, let's try five." When the Spirit demon pulled back the string, only one arrow appeared, but after release, it separated into five.

Kyra did, what she would later call, her "Matrix Move". Bending at the knees she bent backwards arching her back somewhat and balancing on her feet.

"You know there's only so many you can avoid," Somo explained. He wasted no time in drawing three arrows at once that again separated into several more upon release.

The number was too great for her to avoid by moving, so with quick reflexes Kyra withdrew the Soul Blades held securely to her back by her waistband and transformed them into they're more advanced form. She spun them in super fast circles in front of herself to deflect the oncoming arrows. A few landed in front of her with a soft _klinck_.

Some gave an exasperated sigh at having none of his attempts to injure her work. Guess he'd have to come up with different plan.

"Something wrong, Somo?"

"No," he half grunted, half snap.

"Are you sure? Cause I could give you a little boost if you needed." Kyra did a cartwheel to emphasize the fact that they weren't fighting.

"That's ok." He wasn't really paying attention.

"Well that's too bad because I'm going to anyways."

Somo looked up in time to see her charging him straight on and immediately took on the defensive just like she had earlier. She swung her blades around as if she was inexperienced. The demon could dodge them easily enough, but was puzzled by her actions when he knew she could to better.

And then came the "too fast for him to really recall" attack. The only thing he knew about for sure is that she had made a head-on attack with one of her blades and missed when he moved his head. She continued to push forward until their bodies were almost pressed up against each other and then felt a hard object make contact with the back of his head. Something happened in those next few moments where his feet were knocked out from under him, he flipped forward and landed on his back none too gently.

He must have blacked out or something because when he woke up he could hear his teammates yelling at him and Koto standing over him, counting. She was only at 3 by the time he scrambled up to his feet.

* * *

"It almost looked like she had him there," Hiei stated.

"Almost," Kurama replied.

"Did any of you guys catch that?" Kuwabara asked, dumfounded. The other's just rolled their eyes and ignored him.

* * *

Somocho stood rubbing the back of his neck where he had been hit. Kyra still stood with her back towards him, but turned ever so slightly so she could peer over her shoulder to speak to him.

"Are you OK?" There was a cocky smirk on her lips and he was sure her eyes were laughing at him even though they were hidden behind the darkness of her sunglasses.

Her question only perplexed him more. "What?"

She turned completely around to face him and crossed an arm over her stomach, resting her chin on her other hand. Her weapons hung loosely in each hand. "I've never done that move before. I was just wondering how much damage it did."

Somo's old expression was replaced with one of shock. "What do you mean you've never done that before?!"

Kyra shrugged off his shrewd comment. "It was a spur of the moment kind of thing. If it didn't really do anything then I won't attempt it again. But I don't think you're going to cooperate anyways so just forget about it."

"Do you always do that?"

"The spur of the moment thing?"

He gave a nod.

"....Yeah..." The young woman refused to give him any more information than that.

After a brief moment for Somo to catch his breath, the fight began again. The Spirit Demon decided to use one of his spell casting attacks and put Kyra on her feet. The assault consisted of several, softball sized orbs being hurled at her and then locked on to her ki making for a hard escape.

The orbs chased Kyra around the stage while Somo stood off to the side, seemingly watching in amusement. Her weapon had been put away so they wouldn't weight her down more than she already was.

The portal keeper continued to dance around the objects until she could figure out some way to get rid of them. And with barely any surroundings, it would take awhile.

Well it was taking too long for Somo. The Spirit Demon, having been watching and seeing no progress, summoned his bow and prepared to fire 3 arrows. He waited until the opportune moment arose. Kyra had jumped out of the ring and had her side facing him. Aiming a little ahead of her path, Somo released the drawstring.

Kyra, having bee distracted by her task at hand, realized a little too late that arrows had been shot by a high-piercing sound. Before she could make a decision about which to avoid and receive less damage from, her body decided for her. It all kind of happened in painfully slow motion. Her body twisted and her arms came up to black the arrows, one hitting each of her wrists, with the third missing completely. Kyra might have been able to avoid some of the bombs, but she was too weighted down and had lost her footing. Some of the bombs hit her mid-fall, others just exploding beside her. She landed ungracefully on rough ground, more debris falling on top.

The scene happened a lot faster to the viewers than to the victim. The arrows were shot in her direction, but whether or not they actually made contact was hidden by a large explosion and the crashing of that section of wall. A dark cloud of smoke obscured their view as well.

Everyone was silent for a split second before the crowd burst out with joys of excitement. Koto jumped over to the pile and saw a hand but it wasn't moving. She started her count, half thinking the young girl was dead.

By the time she reached 4 there was still no movement and the Urameshi team was beginning to worry.

It wasn't until the count made it's way up to 7 that the girl stirred. The announcer watched as the hand was pulled into the pile of rubble and then scrambled away as energy and purple light began to flood from the cracks.

Suddenly rocks shot out everywhere as Kyra's ki surged for a moment. Bystanders looked away for a moment to avoid the purple light that emitted. When they looked back they found Kyra already back on the stage looking more confident than ever. Her clothes looked a little tattered and there were a few scratches here and there, but other than that she looked ok.

Somocho felt uneasy about the situation. "What are you smiling about?" he said on the defensive.

"You'll find out." Kyra rolled up her sleeves and broke what looked like metal cuffs off both of her wrists. Her opponent felt a small energy surge as she bent down and broke off two more, one around each of her ankles.

Her actions puzzled him and he was about to ask what she had just done when he felt another energy surge—this one much bigger than the last. It almost felt like a pulse and he experienced the same thing again in about 4 or 5 seconds, following the last.

The third pulse was followed by a strong breeze of wind.

"Tell me Somo," Kyra began as a circle or dust started to rotate around her feet and the wind continued to pick up. "Haven't you ever wondered what my _specialty _is?"

"It's crossed my mind a few times."

"Would you like me to show you?"

"Only if you're friendly," he said jokingly trying to hide his nervousness.

"I can't make any promises..." The strong breeze pulsed before turning into a violent windstorm, similar to when Jin was fighting.

The force of it was strong enough to push Somo back bit as he shielded his eyes. It abruptly stopped after a few seconds and the young demon looked to see that things had returned to normal. But it was always calm before the storm.

Kyra stood with her right side facing him at a bit of an angle. She slowly raised her hand so that the palm was pointing straight at him, fingers spread apart.

Somo saw her attack a split second too late but it had already grabbed a hold of him and hurled his body high into the stands, him screaming his head off (a manly scream, not a girly one ).

Kyra really didn't want to show her ability as a psychic, but Somo's last attack had caused the wound on her stomach to reopen and it was bleeding. You couldn't see it through the dark material of her shirt even though it was slowly descending down her skin in small droplets.

The Spirit Demon hit the surface hard, forcing demons to scatter and leaving a pretty good-sized crater in the seating area. He lay there for a second or two trying to gather his bearings. Lord Kye and Tsuko were almost directly above him by the railing, looking down at him.

"You'd better stop while your ahead," Tsuko called down to him. The look the young demon gave him was almost funny. Deciding not to respond, Somo hurried to get back to the stage before exceeding the time limit.

"You don't think she'd actually kill him, do you?" Kye asked, watching the fight with half interest.

"Haven't you been keeping tabs on her at all? I know I said you shouldn't, but I thought for sure you'd find some way to at least keep an eye one her."

"I did have someone watching her from afar for the first couple of years of her absence, but she figured out he was there later and threatened to kill him if he didn't stop. He never sent any pictures or important information; just told me how she was doing to calm my nerves."

Tsuko gave an understanding nod. "She did that to one of my 'watchers' as well. As to answer you earlier question, no, I don't think she'd kill him, but he could end up seriously hurt."

They watched as Somo shot a couple of arrows at her, only to have them stopped in mid-air, turned around, and fired right back at him. One missed him, but the other got him pretty good in the right shoulder. He ripped it out of his skin adding more blood to his already wounded body. In a last attempt to win, Somo tried to fire another arrow, but was launched into the wall before he could release it.

His struggle to get back up was in vain as she sent yet another burst towards him to keep him down permanently. Having finally given up, Somo stayed where he was and let Koto count to ten and announce Kyra the winner.

The other angelic demons hurried to his side to help him out of the pile of rubble.

"Are you ok?" Noraku asked

"I'm fine," he replied, clutching his left shoulder trying to make the bleeding stop.

"I can't believe you put your ass on the line just to fight with her," Toran grumbled as he headed back inside the arena walls. The others shrugged at his comment and followed.

Kyra took her time getting off the stage, holding her side as she landed on the ground. She walked over to her awaiting teammates.

"That was some nice fighting," Yusuke complimented giving her a thumbs up.

"Thanks," she said a little off handedly.

"I don't see why you didn't want to fight in the first place," Kuwabara stated.

Kyra gave a small, almost forced, chuckle. "Yeah, me neither."

"Kyra," Kurama cut in, "are you bleeding?" The smell of blood had hit his nose just a little before she came to stand next to him. He had also noted that her breaths came out in slow, short gasps.

"Just a little, I'll be ok." Kami! If Kurama found out that she was hurt as bad as she was, he'd rip her a new one.

Unfortunately for her, Kurama wasn't as easily fooled, and by the look Hiei was giving her, she didn't think he believed her either.

The redhead seized a hold of her wrist and pulled her hand away from her waist. It had a thin coat of fresh blood covering it and now that her hand wasn't in the way, he could see blood staining the rim of her pants.

Kurama sent her such a glare that she had to avert his eyes. She felt a sinking feeling her stomach along with a sharp pull in her side as her friend pulled back into dark recesses of the stadium waiting room, mumbling something about needing to heal her up. The others followed close behind.

* * *

A/N: I'm glad I finally got this done, I've been working really hard to this week. The next chapter won't be as action packed, but probably show more on Kurama's and Kyra's awkward relationship. In case I haven't told you, I'm just making this up as I go, but I do have a plan. Peace out!


	26. Moments

Kurama pulled Kyra into the waiting room, which also doubled as a medical room. He instructed her to sit on the table while he retrieved the first-aid kit from one of the lockers. The others followed in close behind, confused as to what exactly was going on between the two.

"Take your shirt off," Kurama ordered as he set the supplies down onto the table.

The sound of fabric ripping echoed through the eerily quiet room.

"You didn't have to do that," Kurama stated.

Kyra pulled the last of the material off her arm. "It was ruined anyways. Besides, I don't think I can lift my arm above my head right now." When she turned back around after discarding the shirt behind her, she found Kurama staring at her waist.

She looked down as well and saw all the bandages that covered her left side drenched in blood.

"Kuwabara," Kurama spoke softly, "will you please go get Yukina and tell her to come down here right away."

Kuwaba looked over his shoulder at the two, him and Yusuke having turned around to give Kyra her privacy once she took her shirt off. Seeing the damage, he wasted no time in running off, Yusuke running after him as well.

Hiei stood at the other end of the table accessing his own damage, when he looked up to see all the blood. Kurama was already unwinding the ruined cloth.

"Hiei," the red-head called softly, "could you please get me a wet washcloth. The fire demon nodded and went into the bathroom to obtain the requested item.

When he came out Kurama had almost all the bandages off and he could see a large gash along her back. It was just a few inches from her spine running horizontally across her left side to her abdomen. He continued to stare as another similar gash was revealed. Blood was smeared all over her body by the bandages.

The shorter demon was snapped out of his thoughts when Kurama asked for the washcloth, the last of the bindings having been removed. He handed it over and watched as his friend held it against the wound trying to soak up the blood.

"Hold this," he commanded Kyra. She did as told, her face a scowl, eyes half closed. Her tan skin was already beginning to pale slightly from the blood loss.

Kurama held a cotton ball in a long pair a tweezers trying to gently clean off the excess blood.

"How did you get that?" Hiei questioned after a few moments had passed. She chose to ignore him and look towards the door.

Kurama answered anyways, "She got it a couple weeks ago by the same man who talked to us in the woods today."

"If you are who you say you are then why hasn't that healed yet? Even a half demon would have been healed by now."

She only shrugged off his question.

"There's probably some other force affecting her healing process. The only reason her skin held together was because the dried blood acted as a sort of adhesive," Kurama replied. "She has a lot of bruising all along her ribs and hip."

"Why didn't she have someone look—". The sound of footsteps hurrying towards them abruptly stopped their conversation.

Yukina appeared in the doorway, with everyone else rushing in behind her. The ice apparition walked over to Kurama, who was still trying to clean off some of the blood.

"What's wrong Kurama-san?" she asked.

"Yukina," he addressed, "Kyra is bleeding very heavily. Is there anyway you can stop the blood flow?"

"Hai, I can. But...I haven't done it a lot so it could be painful."

"That's ok Yukina. I'll be fine."

Kuwabara helped lift Yukina onto the table so she could kneel down and position herself next to the injured fighter.

Summer came to stand next to her friend. She gave a small smile, Kyra smiling back, some silent conversation passing between the two.

Kurama was about to remove the washcloth when Kyra stopped him. "Could you guys leave please?" The others who had been just standing there nodded and ushered themselves out of the room. Summer looked at her questionably, wondering if maybe she should leave. Her friend whispered in her ear before the girl left the room as well.

She turned to Hiei who was on the other side of the room. "You too."

The demon "hn'd" but left anyways.

Now that the room was empty of any curious eyes, Kyra allowed Kurama to remove the washcloth. Yukina gasped at the gory sight.

"Don't stop if I start to scream," Kyra informed the other girl. She nodded and prepared herself.

Kurama hadn't said a word as a transparent orb of light emitted from the apparition's hands. He found himself holding her hand trying to brace both of them for what was to come. The other end touched the bruised, purple and red skin as the first wave was sent into the body.

Kyra visibly tensed, her left hand gripping the edge of the table, but she didn't make a sound. After a couple seconds Yukina emitted another surge of her energy, this one more powerful than the last. Again Kyra tensed, her eyes wide with pain and her knuckles turning white from grasping the table and Kurama's hand so hard.

"It's alright Yukina. Just give me all of it now so we can get this over with."

The small female nodded as she closed her eyes and prepared to release a large amount of genki into the girl. As it pulsed through her, Kyra couldn't hold back her screams. Kurama covered her mouth to muffle the noise, cradling her head between his elbow and hand to keep her from thrashing about. It felt like every nerve by that part of her body was on fire and someone was sticking needles into her flesh so it would stay together.

It lasted only about 10 seconds, but if felt much longer to all three of them. Yukina finally dropped her hands to the table, her energy spent.

"Are you alright, Yukina?" Kurama asked, thinking she had used too much of her healing powers.

"I'll be fine. Though Kazuma might be disappointed that I can't heal his injuries."

Kurama smiled and thanked the young woman for help. He looked down to Kyra who was leaning her head on his shoulder trying to catch her breath. His hand was still covering her mouth before she pulled it away to draw in long gasps of air. Her body felt like it had a high fever and she was lightly sweating.

The two hurried to clean her wound, which had stopped bleeding, and rebandaged her waist before allowing the others to come in so they could take care of their own injuries. Summer gave Kyra her sweater jacket to cover up the wound.

Once everyone had been taken care of they headed back to the hotel room for some rest.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It was about 7:00 pm when Yusuke and co. went down to the dining area for dinner. Kurama, Kyra and Summer chose to stay behind and eat in the room.

Kyra and Kurama sat on the floor, eating at the coffee table. Summer was eating in their bedroom so she could talk on Kyra's cell phone in privacy.

"How are you feeling?" Kurama asked. She hadn't really eaten much and he wondered if she really was sick.

"Fine," she answered unconvincingly.

"You don't look fine."

"Looks can be deceiving."

"Maybe you should rest some more."

"Kurama...I just had a four hour nap. If I sleep anymore I'll be up all night."

They ate in silence for a moment.

"You think they suspect me?" she asked.

"They suspect _something_." After they got back to the hotel and Kyra was securely in her room sleeping, he'd received a few questioning and inferring looks.

Flashback

"_Gee, you were sure quick to get her shirt off," Yusuke teased._

"_You didn't seem too afraid to look either," Summer chimed in._

"_And I thought you were a gentleman," Kuwabara said arrogantly._

_Kurama could feel his cheeks heat up. "I assure you my intentions had nothing to do with what you're suggesting."_

_They backed off, but were still skeptical._

End 

Kyra raised a curious eyebrow at the answer but made no attempt to remark on it.

"Do you still have a fever?"

"I think so. My senses feel like there shot though so I really can't tell."

Kurma motioned for her to lean forward and she did. Placing a hand on her forehead he instantly felt the heat threatening to burn his hand. He pulled away and they both leaned back against opposite couches.

"Your injury must be pretty bad. How much has healed?"

"Don't you think Hiei took the news that I'm a Portal Keeper pretty easily?"

"Don't change the subject."

She took another bite of food, seemingly forcing it down. "Has he said anything to you?"

"No, but I'm sure he will. Now answer my first question," he demanded.

"Why is my health always a concern to you. My half demon side helps take care of that."

"Your health is always something to be concerned about. And it's your demon side that is part of the problem."

Kyra scowled, upset that he had pointed out the fact that her necklace reminded her of everyday. As if by reflect, her hand went up to touch the priceless object that hung around her neck.

It had been hand crafted out of crystal diamond by a smith in the city her biological father ruled over. The angel had two wings outstretched horizontally with a vine wrapping over each to twist once over each arm and around the legs. The ruby was held in the middle with palms on each side. Its detail was incredible, showing each finger and toe, the outline of a face, chest and bellybutton. The project had taken over six months and when she had been give it from her now deceased mother she'd refused to take it saying it was to valuable and pretty and that she'd end up losing it. Her mother only laughed and said that that would never happen because she was to never take it off. Still doubtful, her mother slipped it over her head and pulled her hair through the chain. True to her mother's word, she never took it off afraid of what might happen. She slept, exercised, ate and bathed with it, even when she shouldn't or couldn't, like in sports.

Kurama saw the saddened look that appeared on his friends face and instantly felt regret for saying what he had, even if she did provoke him. He stood up and went to sit next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders as she leaned her head against his. He could feel the heat vibrating off her through her clothes, warming himself up. It was times like these that made him happy but pained at the same time; offering comfort but not. She enjoyed the contact—she'd always been _touchy_ with her close friends, him included. But the moments were always short lived, either broken up by some outside force or them for fear of being seen. After years of denying that they weren't together to parents, friends and classmates, it would seem pretty hypocritical to get caught this way.

This time it was Kyra to break the moment, pulling out from under his arm and taking a deep breath.

"It's not healing very well," she said at last. "I don't know if I'll be able to fight in two days."

"We'll talk to Yukina after she's rested a bit."

She nodded and they sat in silence once again, both contemplating whatever it was that was on their mind before the others returned.

* * *

A/N: Well, that's all I have for right now. I need to decide what happens next. I hope this fills you in on a little more about what's going on because I keep forgetting what you I have and haven't written. Ttyl.


	27. Secrets revealed

A/N: _Gokusotsu- _means hell's tormenting devils, but it's what I'm going to call the beasts from the first couple of chapters used by the Dark Assailants.

_Sekimori_-barrier keeper, what Portal Keepers would be called in Japanese…at least for this story

**WARNING: Following chapter may contain spoilers.**

* * *

Hiei awoke to the early morning sun from his spot on the bed. He'd actually decided to sleep there instead of the window to give his aching joints a more comfortable rest. As reluctant as his body was to get up, he did anyways. Going into the bathroom, he used the ningen contraptions like Kurama had shown him, appreciative for once of the hot water.

Kurama rolled over onto his side at the sound of Hiei in the bathroom. He didn't want to wake up or deal with the day's problems. Closing his eyes in an attempt to fall back asleep, the fire demon's words from last night echoed in his mind.

'Tomorrow fox…' 

Before Kuramawas able torespond, the shorter demon had situated himself in his own bed and began to fall into a light sleep. Deciding to be courteous to both of their tired bodies, the redhead turned his back to his friend and nestled into the warmth of his own bed trying to fall into a comfortable slumber.

But now it was morning, and with it came trouble.

A low-pitched ringing broke through the silence of the room, waking the only living thing in it at the moment. Slowly, a hand clawed its way out of the sea of blankets to reach the compact phone. Flipping it on she pressed the metal receiver to her ear.

**

* * *

**

"Hello," said a groggy voice.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" came a deep masculine voice from the other line.

Kyra's head shot up off the pillow at hearing Tsuko's voice. "Are you calling me from the hotel?"

"It's quarter after eleven and you're still not out of bed."

The she-fighter laid her head back down. "Thanks for the time.Will you let mego back to sleep now?"

"No. We need to talk."

"Isn't that what we're doing?"

There was an exhausted sigh from the other end. "I meant face to face."

"Here?" There was alarm in her voice waking her tired body a little.

"Be on the roof in fifteen minutes. And you better be there."

"Fifteen minutes! I don't think I could even roll out of bed in fifteen minutes."

"Fine, half an hour. But you better be there on time or **I** will come to **you**."

"Mmm."

Tsuko ended the call with no closure or farewells to the conversation. Not like he usually did or anything. Placing the phone back on the night table, Kyra ungracefully rolled out of bed into a heap on the floor. She wrapped herself in the comforter before walking out into the gathering space of the hotel room.

Summer sat in front of the TV eating a snack of some sort. She turned to look at her friend when the she heard the sound of the door closing. After clarifying that is was her, she turned back to the music video that was playing on the screen. "You sleep like the dead."

"I almost wish I were at this point." Kyra sauntered over, yawning on the way, and sat next to her friend on the floor. Summer offered her the bowl of dry cereal.

"Why are you eating cereal without any milk?"

"There isn't any. Besides, I'm getting homesick and eating Cheerios makes me feel better."

"You always get homesick." The fighter rubbed her eyes in an attempt to wake up more. "Where is everyone?"

"There isn't a fight today so everyone's just hanging out somewhere."

Kyra gave a grunt and lolled her head back.

"Kurama and that short guy left really early I guess. All those other people were about to leave when I got up."

"Which was when?"

"A little after 10."

"Well, I have to leave you too for a little while."

"What for?!"

"I have to go meet Tsuko. That stupid retard called me on my cell from the hotel." There was a pause. "I didn't mean for that to rhyme."

The other girl smiled. "I guess I'll just wait here all by myself, like I have been for the last hour."

"Awwww….poor baby," Kyra cooed as she hugged her friend around the neck. "Don't worry, I won't be gone long."

Summer wiggled out of the grasp at the sound of her friend's giggle.

"Fine. Just go," she said in mock frustration.

Kyra got up and walked back to her room. Just as she was about to go in she turned around and started singing "All by myself…don't wanna be, all by myself…" Summer flipped her off before she disappeared behind the door.

**

* * *

**

Kurama and Hiei stood at the bottom of a cliff near the water's edge. Either had yet to speak since they left the hotel. But at the moment, both just seemed content with standing in silence.

Unfortunately, it had to end sometime.

Kurama took a deep breath to try and calm his edgy nerves. "Hiei, I—"

"Don't. I won't listen to your excuses."

"I wasn't going to give you excuses."

"Do youexpect me to believe that you were going to tell the truth?"

There was a pause as Kurama digested his words. It's not like he didn't want to tell him! He just…_couldn't_.

"Admit it, fox. You're not just protecting her, you've given in to that disgusting emotion ningens call _'love'._"

If the redhead had been drinking something, he most surely would have choked on it. The blush on his face only clarified that.

He cleared his throat as a sweat drop appeared on the side of his forehead. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Hiei smirked and tilted his head slightly to peer up at the taller boy. "Hn. Just look at you. Your face is the same color as your hair."

Kurama felt the heat become stronger and spread a little further on his face.

"Tell me, is she the real reason why you didn't accept Yomi's offer."

"No," the blushing disappeared somewhat at the unexpected question. "I can assure you that I didn't stay in the Ningenkai just for her."

The smirk on the shorter demon's face never wavered, making the other a little uneasy.

"I think I'll go see what Yusuke is doing if this is all you wanted to talk about," Kurama responded, agitated.

Hiei's face went back to its stoic nature. "Fine, let's talk about what _is_ important. Like whether or not we're all going to get killed."

"We're not going to get killed because she's here. The only reason any of us would, would be because of our own incapability. Besides, you came here for a challenge, didn't you?"

"Are you thinking clearly?" Hiei's anger was starting to mount. "I don't know what game you think you're playing, but you're not fooling me."

Hiei had turned so he was now fully facing the other demon. His hands were balled into fists. "They're here for her and they'll go through us if they have to to get her! And **you** asked her to come. She could very well just be using us."

Kurama stood with a down cast look, his bangs shadowing his eyes. He knew Hiei's words were true but what could say! When he spoke, it was barely above a whisper, "She doesn't' know."

"What doesn't she know," the koorime backed off a little.

Kurama had to clear his throat a little. "Kyra—she doesn't know that they're after her."

"What?" This time his voice was a little less demanding, his anger turning into shock and disbelief.

"She doesn't know the truth…at least that's how it sounds. I don't have the heart to tell her though."

"But how. They had rewards up for her for years in the makai after they made their initial attempt. It seems impossible for her not to know."

"When her mother died, she was to young to understand what was really happening and to confused to care. As she got older, she did ask questions, but her sensei, Tsuko, who knew most about it, seemed reluctant to tell her. I never felt it was my place to. It didn't seem anyone else did either."

Hiei turned back to the water. "It still doesn't make sense. How could you know about it when you weren't even in the makai when it happened and she not?"

"Kyra didn't make her first trip to the makai until she was 15. By then, I had made several short trips, secretly of course, to keep up with activities. I visited recently after she arrived in the ningenkai and learned about the uproar. Hunters eventually forgot about it after a couple years, assuming she had died. Her father, and mother especially, had taken great precautions to hide her in the case of an emergency."

The shorter demon began rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. "Well that doesn't make anything anymore uncomplicated."

"No it doesn't," Kurama replied, "But what do you plan to do?"

"I don't know…yet."

Kurama turned to leave. "Well, whatever you decide, just…don't hurt her." With that said the kitsune left, leaving the other with his thoughts.

(Meanwhile…)

Kyra pushed open the door at the top of the stairs to the roof, only to be greeted by a bright ray of sunshine. She fumbled to put her sunglasses on before proceeding.

Tsuko was already there waiting for her, standing in the middle so as not to be seen by anyone on the ground, should they look up. The female cautiously made her way over, careful not to get too close. She stopped immediately at the sound of his voice.

"You're actually on time."

"Am I? Sorry, my bad," she joked.

"How are your injuries?"

Kyra's hand instinctively went to her waist. She eyed him, "Fine...why?"

"You wouldn't have used your psychic ability on Somocho if you didn't have to."

The Portal Keeper narrowed her eyes at the use of Somo's name by her teacher. "That reminds me. What's up with you being all buddy-buddy with them?"

Tsuko gave her a quick side-glance. "What makes you say that?" He was obviously trying to play innocent.

"Well you use Somo's name for one. Plus, I always see you around **_him_.**"

"Does that bother you?"

"Hell yeah! that bothers me. How am I suppose to know what you're telling him?"

"You aren't."

Kyra raised one eyebrow. "Are you talking about me?"

"Our discussions are none of your concern."

"I don't believe it! You are talking about me!" Her voice rose in accused anger.

"I did not call you up here to bicker about your family issues." He spoke in a loud authoritive voice, one she was very use to. She withdrew somewhat, but refused to back down.

"Then hurry up and say what you have to say 'cause I'm not gonna piss all my time away with you up here." Crossing her arms in front of her chest and leaning on one foot, she waited for him to begin.

He started walking towards her, stopping only far enough away to be able to stretch his arm out and lay his hand atop her head. Kyra kept eye contact with him the whole time and watched as his face went from a look of intolerance to a look of worry. She dropped her own angry façade at his evident concern.

"I'm worried about you," Tsuko said low and softly, as if talking to his own child.

She averted her eyes. "I know," her voice lower than that of her sensei's.

The raven-haired man dropped his hand and took a deep breath. "I wish you wouldn't have come here."

"Well you showing up _really_ helped."

"I wouldn't have had to shown up if you hadn't been so quick to run off and fight."

Kyra rolled her eyes. "It's too late to change any of that now."

"I know. But what do you plan to do about the Dark Assailants?"

Her shoulders drooped as she let out a deep sigh she had been unconsciously holding. "I don't know for sure, it's kind of complicated."

"Complicated?" Tsuko asked with mild curiosity. "How can it 'kind of' be complicated?"

"It just is."

"It's only complicated because you make it complicated."

"**Oh never mind**. I wanted to ask you what you knew about those guys."

Tsuko looked up, seemingly drifting off into space. Sucking in a deep breath, he spoke as if talking to himself, "What about them…"

"Listen, all I really need to know is how to kill them. From what I've heard, they can regenerate because they're," she did air quotes as she finished her sentence, "_shadow demons_."

"Regardless of they're type, they still have vitals. You're best bet is to aim for the heart. It's said that one blow to the heart will kill them instantly…if you can get past their blood."

"I know, I know, it's acidic."

He looked down at her in surprise. "You sound as if you've already encountered them before the tournament."

Kyra rubbed the back of her neck, looking away inconspicuously, "Ummmm, maybe…"

"When?" His voice had returned to that strict deepness.

"Only a week before the tournament started. I went to go and investigate the opening of a portal and they were there waiting for me."

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"I didn't know who they were at first, but once I figured it out I immediately tried to get away." _Lie…_ "That's how I got this." Kyra lifted up her shirt far enough for him to see her wound. She hadn't rebandaged it after taking a quick shower. It was looking fairly better. She watched as the taller man got on one knee to take a better look.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, brushing the tips of his fingers lightly over the bruised flesh.

"Only when I move certain ways. It was a lot better when I got it a couple of weeks ago."

He looked up at her in alarm. "A couple of weeks? You've had it that long and it still didn't heal?"

"Don't start with me."

Tsuko looked closer at the wound. '_A_ _Gokusotsu no doubt,'_ he thought to himself. _'The last thing she needs is a liability with such an important fight coming up.'_

The elder held up both of his hands about an inch away from the wound. "Alright, hold still."

Kyra swallowed a lump in her throat. "Is this going to hurt," memories of the pain from Yukina's healing came flooding back.

"Only if you move."

Kyra watched as his hands began to glow and the energy transferred over to her. There was a numbing sensation as the blue and red marks slowly reduced before disappearing altogether. Once finished, Tsuko stood up allowing the young fighter to examine his work for herself.

"Woooowwww, thank Tsuko," Kyra tested the newly healed muscle for any pain, finding none. "I guess this means I owe you."

"Hm."

A tingle ran down Kyra's spine. Hm? A 'hm' was not good.

Kyra fixed her shirt, "What?"

Tsuko glanced back down at his student. "Oh, it's nothing."

"Nothing as in something."

"I think we've covered everything. I should be getting back." Tsuko turned to leave, heading for the stairs. He was stopped as a pair of arms suddenly encircled his waist from behind, almost throwing him off balance.

"Thank." She gave a quick squeeze for emphasis. Then letting go she ran ahead of him and flew down the stairs, leaving him to just stand there, cape blowing in the wind.

* * *

Kyra entered the hotel room finding Summer the same way she left her. "Hey." 

"Hey." Summer's eyes never left the TV screen. "How'd it go?"

"Fine."

"That's good."

"What are ya watchin'?" Kyra asked plopping down next to her friend.

"Jurassic Park."

"Sweet."

* * *

Kurama continued to walk towards his friends' ki signal. After his discussion with Hiei, he felt stressed, and undecided. The situation with Kyra was getting out of hand. He was beginning to regret asking her here. 

Regret. How he hated that damn emotion. It seemed to follow him everywhere. Was this his punishment for his crimes when he was Youko?

Fortunately he didn't have to dwell on it much as the sound of voices up ahead could be heard. Spotting figures, he slowed his pace a bit, silently appearing in the clearing with the somewhat large group of people.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were in another fight, with everyone (including the Rokuyukai team) watching in amusement. He stopped next to Botan, almost scaring her to death.

"Kurama! Don't do that!" she yelled at him.

"My apologies, Botan. I did not mean to scare you." The fox demon couldn't stop a small smile from spreading across his lips.

It was then that ferry girl remembered he had left with Hiei and began looking around trying to spot the small demon. Not being able to find him she turned back to Kurama, "Where's Hiei?"

The redhead only shrugged. "Probably in a tree somewhere."

Botan only blinked a few times before turning back to the quarrel.

(Later that evening)

The Urameshi crew sat crowded in the fighters' gathering room chatting away. It seemed they were all excited about the finals tomorrow—mostly everyone…ok, really only Yusuke and Kuwabara, but the noise coming from the two made it sound like everyone was pumped. They happily chatted away about tomorrow's events and what they could possibly wish for.

One particular comment from Kuwabara caused Shizuru to down the mood. After boasting about how easy it would probably be to win tomorrow's battle, the older sibling was forced to speak up.

"What makes you think tomorrow is going to be a walk in the park?"

Kuwabara stopped what he was doing to look at his sister.

"I mean, what do you guys actually know about them? They can't be that weak if they were able to make it to the finals."

Kuwabara and Yusuke both jumped up and began flexing their muscles. "Even if they are strong," Yusuke started.

"They're nothing compared to us!" Kuwabara finished, the two of them standing and waving peace signs, their faces as smug as ever.

"Well Hanz and Franz, your flies are open," Kyra stated. Both boys looked down in embarrassment, only to find that they weren't. They blushed even harder and tried to hide it as best they could. The room burst into laughter at seeing the blushing boys.

Kyra stopped laughing long enough to speak, "You may be stronger than them in muscle capacity, but it's not worth much if you aren't smart enough to use it. These guys aren't just some knuckle heads trying to win so they can have a couple of wishes."

"You would know them best, wouldn't you," Hiei said from his spot in the window.

Everyone turned to look at the small demon that had spoken out of the blue.

"What would make you say that?" Kyra countered before anyone could question him.

"They aren't here for wishes because they're here for you." The room went dead silent.

"Hiei, what are you talking about," Botan asked, forcing herself to laugh to try and lighten the mood. When she got no reply, she turned to the accused girl. "Kyra, is this true?" Everyone waited patiently for her to answer.

"No," she said bluntly. Her face had taken on a darkened tone, eyes shielded by the few long bangs that hung down. "They're not here for me. I'm here for them."

"But…why?" Keiko spoke up.

"Because…"

"Because she's a Sekimori." Hiei now stood next to the chair. "And she's using us to fight her battles." Botan, Koenma and Yukina all had shocked expressions on their faces.

Kyra stood up then, staring at the fire demon as if she was about ready to stab him.

"What's a …Sekimori?" Yusuke asked confused about what was going on.

"A Portal Keeper, a member of the Iseki clan." Koenma explained. When several members of the group gave him perplexed looks, he continued. "They're the keepers between the worlds, making sure they don't collide together. It's their job to keep people, demons, and even souls from passing from one world to the next when they're not suppose to."

Koenma turned to look at Kyra. "Kyra, is it true. Are you really a Portal Keeper?"

Kyra broke her eye contact with Hiei, taking a deep breath instead. She was silent for several moments, gaze focused on the floor. There were no other movements besides the clenching and unclenching of her fists.

Kurama suddenly stood up in front of Kyra, only an inch or two between them. Obviously he had picked up on something the others had not.

"Don't even think about it," he growled at her in a hushed voice.

"And why not," she retorted, now staring at him defiantly in the eyes.

"Doing that will not change what's been done."

"You said I could trust him!" Kyra's voice was still hushed, but everyone in the room could clearly hear their conversation.

"It seems I was mistaken. But they would have found out tomorrow anyways." Kurama gave her the sternest look he could muster at the moment, pushing his own anger aside to keep hers in check.

Kyra gritted her teeth together as if she wanted to say something but opted to instead leave the hotel room, slamming the door behind her. Summer, worried about her friend, hurried after her, leaving Kurama standing there alone.

"I'll take that as a yes," Koenma said aloud to no one in particular. Not that it would have mattered because no one was listening to him anyways. They were all staring at Kurama's back.

After an excruciatingly tenseful minute, the redhead turned around to face his teammates. His heated gazed fell on his so-called "best friend".

"Don't look at me like that fox. You have no right to be mad."

"Just like you had no right to tell such information."

"Don't blame me for your mistakes."

"Then do not blame me for your fears." Both fighters spoke with such venom in their voices, the bystanders were sure a fight would break out soon.

Fortunately Yusuke cut in before anything serious could happen. "What the hell is wrong with you two? We're supposed to be a team."

"Teammates don't put each other in danger," Hiei hissed.

"Nor do they betray one another," Kurama replied angrily.

"I don't see what the big deal is anyways!" Yusuke cut in once again.

"Yusuke, you don't understand," Koenma said calmly.

"Then someone better start explaining," the retired spirit detective ordered, crossing his arms and sitting back down next to Keiko.

Hiei walked back to the window to sit down. "You heard the detective Kurama, start explaining."

"Why don't you do the honors? You seemed so content as to tell earlier." The fox demon had sat back down as well.

Yukina looked back and forth between the demons, uncomfortable with the fact that the two weren't on good terms at the moment.

It was Koenma who took up the role of informative. "I'll explain, but before I begin, you need to understand that this information must be taken very seriously."

"Yeah, yeah, just get on with it."

"The Sekimori, or Portal Keepers are part of the Iseki clan like I told you earlier. They helped in the creating of the four worlds—now three—by putting up a barrier between them. When this happened thousands of years ago, the Iseki clan was given the responsibility of making sure the barriers stayed in place and monitored at all times."

"I take it Kyra is a descendent of this clan," Shizuru commented.

Koenma gave an affirmative nod. "The Iseki clan were specifically assigned to be mortal, and can only be female."

"Why only female?" Kuwabara asked.

"The actual Portal Keepers could only be female because they had to be able to create the next generation. They had to be able to carry a child because they were mortal and, of course, wouldn't live forever. They were mortal to prevent them from abusing their great power or neglecting their responsibilities. It's a similar concept used in picking Spirit Detectives."

"I don't see what Hiei was getting all upset about. We should be glad Kurama found such a strong fighter, right?" Yusuke blurted confidently.

There was a"Baka" heard fromHiei's side of the room. The forbidden child, though appearing to be gazing out the window, was listening intently to the conversation.

"There's more to Kyra than what I just told you," Koenma continued. "Kyra, like you, is half demon."

"But I though you said Portal Keepers were suppose to be mortal," Keiko said perplexed.

The demigod gave another nod. "Hai, they're suppose to be mortal, but unlike Spirit Detectives, we in the ReiKai government have no say in the Sekimoris' actions."

Yusuke interrupted, "Again I fail to see the problem."

There was an exasperated sigh from the informative. "It's dangerous to have one Portal Keeper live so long. Many demons—and some humans—don't appreciate or approve of their work. They don't like the fact that the worlds are separated and that it only takes one human female to keep it that way."

"So they're sexist," Shizuru stated more than asked.

"Sort of. But the danger is they can go rouge, or in this case, be used for evil purposes."

"This case? You mean someone wants to use Kyra?" Yusuke questioned, finally starting to worry about the situation.

He only gave a nod.

"Who?" Yusuke pestered when he got no other answer.

"You're opponents for tomorrow."

There was a chilled silence for a moment. "Come again?"

"The DA, or Dark Assailants, are after her."

"Then we'll just have to pummel them to the ground tomorrow."

"It's not that simple," Kurama spoke up from his spot on the couch. "The Dark Assailants are some of the vilest demons out there. They don't play fair and will use any means necessary to achieve their goal."

"If they're so strong, why do they want Kyra?" Keiko inquired.

Koenma picked up where Kurama left off. "We've been onOK terms with them for a long time now. But then Goro, Solex's father, came into power and the ties were destroyed. He dreamed of a so-called 'better' place where all the worlds were one and humans proved their place among them all. Even the non-living worlds would become one, the meikai resurrected. They needed Kyra to do this."

"The whole 'destroy the human world' is popular amongst the bad guys, isn't it," Shizuru commented.

Yusuke interrupted, "So is this Goro guy still alive then?"

"No, he died in a battle between him and Kyra's mother, along with several other high classed members of the DA. Solex is now in charge and it would seem that he is carrying out his father's plans."

"Kurama-san," Yukina interrupted. The fox demon looked up at the ice apparition at the sound of his name. "Kyra said that she was here for them. But from Koenma just told us, it would seem the other way around. Is there a chance that Kyra doesn't know about their purpose?"

Kurama averted his eyes to the floor. "It's not just a chance, it's a fact." His spoke as if his resolve had been broken.

"If you knew, why didn't you tell her?" Yukina continued.

"There never seemed to be a right time. Besides, even if there was, I don't think I could have put it in a way that wouldn't hurt."

Yukina gave him an understanding nod. "It's ok, we understand."

"What are you going to do now that you know the truth?" Koenma questioned after a moment of silence.

"I say we keep fighting," Kuwabara proclaimed. "If Kyra is a damsel in distress, then we'll be her knights in shining armor! Now are we all in or not?"

"I'd want to kick these guys asses either way. I'm in." Yusuke gave a thumbs-up as if to clarify his statement.

Kuwabara turned to the fox demon, "Kurama?"

He gave a small smile at the younger boy's enthusiasm. "But of course."

They all turned to Hiei. "What about you short stuff?"

Hiei stared out the window for what seemed like the longest time. But eventually he answered. "I did not come all the way out here to make it to the finals and then quit."

With the situation resolved, the mood lightened considerably. They tried to put their minds at ease by talking about a different subject. When nine o' clock rolled around, Kyra and Summer still hadn't returned. Everyone decided to turn in early, leaving Kurama alone to wait up for the girls.

* * *

It was about midnight when Kyra and Summer finally returned. Kurama was still sitting on the couch reading a magazine when he heard them knock. He had to open the door for the two knowing they had left without their room key. 

As soon as the two entered, Summer made a beeline for their room and disappeared inside. Kyra walked in slowly as Kurama closed the door behind her. She immediately noticed that Kurama had all the lights off except for one lamp by the couch.

"You should not have stayed out so late," Kurama's calm voice broke out through the silence.

"We—" her voice cracked forcing her to cough to clear it. "We were talking."

He gave a nod even though she wasn't facing him to see it. They stood in an awkward silence waiting for the other to start.

Kyra rubbed her arms to try and stop the goose bumps arising there. "How'd it go?"

"Better than I thought."

She gave him a smile over her shoulder, "So does that mean 'good'?"

"They're all still going to fight tomorrow."

There was a sigh from the brunette. "I should say something tomorrow."

Kurama closed the small distance between them and put his hands on her shoulders. "Maybe, but right now you should get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a hard fight, probably the hardest you've had yet."

He saw her nod. "Thanks for everything, Kurama. I don't know what I'd do without you." She leaned back into him, her fatigue apparent.

"Probably something stupid," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her waist.

As they stood there embracing, Kurama suddenly realized where his hands were and what he could feel…or more what he couldn't feel.

"Kyra," he began as his hands roamed over her stomach, "your wounds?"

Kyra felt her cheeks flame up as she was suddenly whirled around and her shirt lifted up to just below her breasts.

Kurama had acted without thinking and was now looking at Kyra's bare skin, seeing only the smoothness and nicely sculpted abs, no signs of her injury from early.

"Kyra, what happened to—" His sentence was cut off as he was struck upside the head and his hands pushed violently away. Realization dawned on him as to what he had just done.

The kitsune could feel his cheeks heat up and quickly averted his eyes. "Gomen, I did not mean to."

"It's alright." He glanced at her to see that she was blushing as well—along with a small vein protruding from the side of her forehead. "Tsuko healed it for me when I met him on the roof earlier today."

Kurama simply nodded

"I'm going to bed now. Good night."

"Good night." He watched her vanish into her room before turning off the light and going to his own.

* * *

A/N: Finally! This has to be the longest chapter I've ever done. I know it took awhile, but I've barely been home! Anyways, I know people are getting anxious for a relationship to bloom, but you'll just have to wait a little longer. I'm trying to show hints, but I don't want to rush the story. Sorry. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. 


	28. I Know You Care

"_**xxx**_" signifies a psychic conversation

* * *

Today was the day. 

The Urameshi team stood waiting next to the large door leading out to the arena. An eerie silence surrounded the group. Tension was high and patience was thinning. They were eager to get out there and fight, even if not for all the same reasons.

Kyra could feel the butterflies in her stomach, fluttering uncontrollably. This morning had been awkward to say the least, and still on her mind.

(Earlier that morning)

Everyone sat around the small coffee table in the fighters' room. Someone had yet to say anything. Kyra noticed that her companions seemed reluctant to look her in the eyes, or even in her direction for that matter.

"Alright, I can't take it anymore," the girl abruptly shot out. "If you've go something to say, say it."

Kurama gave his friend a glance before turning his attention to the other occupants of the room. They gave each other nervous glances trying to decide if they really wanted to voice their opinions or not.

"Kyra," Koenma called the girl's attention (along with everyone else's). "Having dealt with several of your ancestors, I know how important your identities are to you. So why is it that you have decided to so publicly challenge this enemy?"

Kyra seemed to consider his question a moment.

"Kyra, you told them to ask, so you had better answer," Kurama scolded.

She sighed and thought over her response to him a few seconds longer. "I don't know if my decision would have really mattered in the end. But I never actually planned on letting my secret slip. Things just sort of played out that way."

"You sure didn't seem too reluctant to give that information up to me," Hiei interrupted.

"Well, I had a plan behind telling you that, but I kind of forgot about that unnatural third-eye in the middle of your fucking forehead." Hiei scoffed at the girl's attitude.

Kurama gave her a look somewhere between disappointment and aggravation at her choice of words.

"Hn. What were you going to do? Erase my memory?" The fire demon was now looking at the Portal Keeper.

"Something along those lines," she retorted.

"So killing this guy must be a lot more important to you than your safety," Yusuke stated.

"You could say that."

An odd silence fell over the room as several people once again exchanged glances. The gesture was not missed.

"What?"

Keiko opened her mouth to say something, but Kurama stood up and diverted the fighter's attention before a word could be spoken.

"Kyra, would you come with me please? There's something I need to discuss with you," Kurama said swiftly, gesturing toward the door.

"Sure…" His friend was already suspicious. He heard her tell Summer she'd be right back before exiting the room with him.

Summer made a disgruntled noise as the door closed behind the couple. "I'm so lost right now…"

"Join the club," Yusuke muttered.

(still in flash back)

Kurama looked left and right down the hallway trying to think of a place where they could be alone without leaving the little amount of security the hotel provided. The last thing he wanted right now was another encounter with the shadow demon before the match later today.

"We can always go to the roof if you want to be alone," she said giving him a suggestive smile, complete with a wink.

He gave her the smallest of smiles at what she was implying, not sure if he was in the mood for jokes or not.

They took the elevator up to the highest level and then the stairs to the roof. It wasn't until they reached the center that they stopped.

Kurama had his back turned to her before she walked closer to him to stand by his side.

"You look upset," Kyra commented. His down cast eyes were a dead give away of that. She watched as he took a deep breath, moments before their eyes connected. When she tried to offer him a comforting smile his eyes only darkened.

The she-fighter gave a surrendering sigh. She'd bet anything they were going to have a "disagreement", most likely about her. Her head tilted back so she could look at the clouds.

"I want you to leave," he said, also having diverted his eyes.

"Leave? Like leave you alone or leave-leave?"

There was another deep inhale from the demon. "It's not too late. Yusuke and the others, they'll understand if you back down. You could take Summer and go back home. Koenma could sub-in like last time…"

Kyra turned and took his face into her hands. "Kurama, I'm not going to leave." The demon frowned at seeing her smile about such a serious subject.

"Don't be foolish," Kurama said sternly, pulling her hands away by the wrist. "You know as well as I do what's going to happen if you go out there today."

"I know Kurama, but I'm too close! This is finally my chance to get revenge…and some closure."

The redhead squeezed her wrists in an attempt to stay calm. "What about your family and friends back home? You'll be putting them all in danger if you go through with this."

"They were already in danger and knew it. Why should this be any different?"

"You know the difference!" he scolded harshly, something he rarely did (if ever). "You're suppose to be in hiding and you're not doing a very good job of that."

"I won't hide forever!" she shouted. The control over her emotions was slipping. "This is the perfect opportunity! I won't pass it up."

"Kyra, there will be other opportunities."

"OTHER OPPORTUNITIES! I waited ten years for this and you have the nerve to tell me there will be other opportunities!"

"He's not worth it!" Now Kurama was yelling from all the agitation and an uncommon lack of patience. "If you thought things were bad now, just wait until this is over."

Kyra stood straight up, leaning on one leg and crossing her arms just under her chest. One of her eyebrows was raised as she questioned his motives. "Kurama, you act like I'm going to lose." Her voice had become less threatening, but she was still on the edge.

Kurama also straightened himself up. "It's a real possibility, one you haven't taken into account. I know you well enough to realize that you could use some more training before taking on an opponent like Solex."

The demon could no longer see her eyes as they were shadowed by her bangs.

Her words made him feel as if he'd just been slapped. "Well, I'm glad you were honest with me Kurama." She slowly turned away, bestowing one last glance his way before making her way towards the door in long fluid steps—signifying the end of their conversation.

The youko could only stand there and watch as she walked towards the door. He called to her just as she reached for the knob.

"Kyra…"

"Go fuck yourself," she called back; and then her form disappeared down the stairs.

(End Flashback)

Kyra leaned against the wall, replaying the events in her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about it and felt she had to patch things up with her ally and friend.

_**"…Kurama…"**_

The demon was jerked out of his own thoughts by the intrusion to his mind. Feeling the familiar ki signal of the girl next to him, he answered her call.

_**"Hai…"**_

There was a moment of silence. Kurama spared her a glance to see if she changed her mind about whatever it was she was going to say, but the darkness of the hall limited his ability to somewhat.

Finally she responded.

_**"I'm sorry…"**_

Emotions weren't the easiest thing to translate in these kind of conversations. Usually how powerful the transition was sent determined the feeling of the message. This one had been weak and Kurama could easily tell that she felt guilty about this morning.

It caused a wave of ease to wash over the youko knowing that she wasn't upset about what had transpired between them. His muscles softened at hearing her apology. He, too, had been thinking about the incident this morning ever since it happened.

Her thoughts continued in his mind.

**_"I shouldn't have blown-up in your face like that. I know you're just looking out for me. After all you've helped me with, it's the least I can do to at least listen to your advice."_**

**_"It's alright. I apologize as well. I should have more faith in you and your abilities."_**

**_"Well, as long as you're not beating yourself up over it."_**

He smiled at her attempt to lighten the mood.

**_"Kyra…"_**

**_"Hai…"_**

**_"…Promise me you'll be careful…"_**

**_"……….I promise…."_**

The back of their hands touched ever so lightly. It was Kyra's way of reinforcing her promise.

At the moment, the large iron doors slowly swung open, letting in the early afternoon light. Everyone took a few more seconds to prepare themselves before walking out into the arena and the roar of the crowd.

* * *

A/N: I'm not going to make any excuses for why it's taken me so long to write this. I know it's short, but it felt like a good spot to stop at. Maybe I'll find some more motivation and write the next chapter. 


	29. DA vs Urameshi Team: Round I

A/N: I know I have been inconsistent with my story, but this is my first fanfic and I'm still trying to find my flow. I'm not sure if I've developed a style for myself as of yet so be open-minded about my story. Also, I haven't taken the liberty to write out any notes or plot line to follow so I keep forgetting what I've already written. Of course I place blame on myself, but I promise to be better prepared with my future stories.

* * *

Yusuke and co. stood to the side as the female fox/cat demon announced the other team. The shadow demons didn't make a flashy entrance; but, it seem they were trying to intimidate them by standing all together, clad only in black.

Koto called the team leaders to the stage as protocol. The two stood face to face—or more face to hooded creepy guy while the she-demon set the rules (which were same as last time). When each fighter clarified their understanding, Yusuke was surprised to find that the shadow demon sounded like a normal guy. From what Kurama had told him he'd been expecting some ghost like creature that talked like a snake or some other freakish animal.

The pair of fighters departed and Yusuke couldn't help but give one last glance in his challenger's direction. Joining his team members on the side, Koto started explaining the rules to the audience.

Kyra elbowed him in the arm. "What did you think? Peachy, isn't he?"

The hanyou smiled, "Yeah, seems like a real go getter."

They looked back in time to hear the first round of fighters be called to the stage. There was a pause in the group as the team of five gave each other side glances. Apparently they forgot to pick an order.

"I'll go," Hiei volunteered.

The other team looked to be waiting for the Urameshi team to pick their first fighter before choosing one of their own. The fire demon watched as one member suddenly disappeared from view, only to reappear on the stage as a black shadowed that materialized back into a humanoid form. He was not impressed.

Koto thrust her hand into the air, signifying the beginning of the match. "Our first round of fighters will be Hiei for the Urameshi team and," she at first announced enthusiastically until it dawned on her that she didn't know who the other demon was. The fox/cat scratched behind one of her ears as she requested the black figures name, "Umm...excuse me, but...who are you again?"

"Number 3," he replied coolly.

His name was announced, causing Koto's excitement to dwindle somewhat. Regardless of previous actions, the demon took on a new seriousness as her hand sliced the air with a cry of "Fight!"

At first, neither combatant made a move to fight, somehow silently agreeing, first, on a stare down; although it was harder for the shorter of the two seeing as he couldn't exactly make eye contact.

Finally the shadow demon spoke, "Do not expect your dragon to save you in this battle."

The only change in his demeanor was in the koorime's facial expression, having gone from cold to annoyed. "Do you think I am so weak as to rely only on one attack?"

"I am positive you will use it before this match is over." His comment was only returned with a 'hn'.

Hiei refocused his attention on the figures waist as the sound of metal being pulled from a sheath reached his ears. For some reason, the sight of a katana in the shadow demon's hand sparked something within him. Never one to back down from a challenge, he to unsheathed his weapon.

"Rumor has it your skill with a blade is exceptional. It excites me to know that I will have the chance to test them against my own."

"I hope I don't disappoint," Hiei replied, ready for the first attack.

And it came. It came fast and swift, stunning the spiky-haired demon but a moment before he was launched at again. Deciding that the shadow demon's build didn't affect his sword ability, Hiei quickly upped his game. The sound of metal on metal rang throughout the stadium area, eliciting cheers from the crowd. The fact that the majority of the audience couldn't even follow the actions taking place not mattering.

The additional Urameshi team members standing on the side all tried to act as if they weren't trying to hard to following the demon's movements themselves.

After a segment of flying sparks, the two finally separated to opposite ends of the stage. For a second it appeared that neither of the two had been injured. Then the sound of clothes ripping and falling apart started. Hiei had received only two slashes, vertically running down his front and back. Though they didn't cut his flesh, his cloak and scarf split in two, resulting in the fire demon pulling the, now, rags off.

As for Number 3, his entire cloak laid around him in shredded pieces on the floor, but he too stood unscathed.

Hiei took a moment to admire his handy work. The man was pale, whiter than the fox even. It was a stark contrast to the ink black hair and intricate design etched on his face. The only color was in his eyes, a dark purple, not really even noticeable from the koorime's distance. He'd been able to catch a glimpse in the mist of their battling. Also noticeable were the pointy ears on either side of his head, resembling an elf. 3's entire ensemble was consisted of black, much like himself. His hands were still concealed in black leather gloves that ended in the middle of his forearms.

"I assume you are prepared enough for the real fight to begin?" questioned the item of inspection.

"I was prepared before this match even began." Resheathing his sword, the fire demon positioned himself into a more protected stance.

Following his opponents actions, Number 3 sheathed his sword and the two once again fell into a stare contest. A hushed silence fell upon the on-lookers as tension built between the opposing forces.

And just when it felt like time had frozen, both fighters took off in a sprint, attacking the other with a renewed speed and fervor. Now everyone was having a hard time keeping up with the fight.

"Can anybody see what's happening?" Kuwabara complained from the side.

"They're fighting," Yusuke said seriously trying to concentrate on what was going on in the ring instead of listening to Kuwabara. The said teen 'hmph'd" in aggravation and mumbled under his breath.

This time when they stopped, blood had been drawn. Each had a number of cuts and scratches scattered throughout their bodies, breaths ragged from the intense dual.

And then to watchers' amazement, both swords shattered, leaving each fighter with nothing but a hilt and stub where metal use to be.

Number 3 tossed the scrape away from him. "It seems we've reached a stalemate.

Hiei, too, discarded what was left of his weapon. "Only to you."

"I guess we'll just have to finish this the old fashion way."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Fists went flying in an instant. The fire demon seemed to have the other on the defensive, refusing to let up on his attack.

So you can probably guess as to why he was surprised when he was suddenly punched in the stomach. The blow sent him flying backwards until he was stopped by another hit to the base of the neck. Fortunately, it didn't render him unconscious like his adversary was hoping.

The fire demon was on his hands and knees trying to get up when he received a kick to the stomach knocking some of the wind out of his lungs. He rolled away and pushed himself up before the other demon could deliver another strike.

It took him a few seconds to catch his bearings. A smug smirk appeared on his face.

The Dark Assailant's question escaped before he could stop himself, "What?"

Hiei straightened up before speaking, seeming unfazed by the previous attack. "You had me worried there for a minute."

The taller fighter gave him a perplexed look.

"When you first warned me against using my Dragon I thought you were trying to intimidate me. But now I realize how weak you really are."

"Weak?" Number 3 felt his pride take a blow.

"You would have never mentioned it if you weren't afraid of me using it." Hiei's tone was mocking as he spoke.

The shadow demon's hands clenched in anger. His challenger had unknowingly struck a cord. In now way was he weak. **_Weak_** wasn't even in his vocabulary!

"I will show you the meaning of weak," 3 seethed, "starting by killing you!" He attacked swiftly but the half koorime had predicted as much and ducked to deliver a powerful punch to the ribs, effectively breaking a few. The stronger force caused a bit of a whiplash that sent the black figure soaring backwards.

After numerous, ungraceful tumbles, the man finally stopped himself with his feet digging into the pavement and one hand pushing him up – the other holding his damaged ribcage. Pain etched his face every time he tried to take a breath. Anger soon replaced it at the satisfied look on his inflictor's face.

Hiei watched as his opponent stood up and tried to collect what was left of his composition. He hoped that his last attack would be enough to coax out the full potential he'd seen in their earlier battle. That way he could finish him off without any regrets. It confused him to now see the shadow demon holding back. Was he conserving it? Or was he losing on purpose? Perhaps he had already tired? Hiei decided it didn't matter.

He was abruptly pulled from his thoughts at the disappearance of his target. By the time he locked onto the shadow zigzagging on the arena floor, it was too close. When he tried jumping out of the way, a hand reached out of the blackness and pulled him in.

The Urameshi team watched in disbelief as their friend and teammate was pulled into the blob.

"Uhh...where'd they go?" Koto questioned aloud to the audience. _'Does this count as being out of the ring? Maybe I should start counting,'_ she thought to herself. The crowd started to rustle as they stared at the black puddle on the ring floor.

Hiei felt like he was floating in a cloud. A very thick cloud, that when breathed in made him feel all sticky and mucky on the outside. Blinking, he tried to make out his surroundings. There was only an epitome of black everywhere he looked. He couldn't even look down to see his nose.

Number 3's youki suddenly overwhelmed the fire demon forcing him to shield himself against the unidentified opponent.

A deep chuckle resonated throughout the space. "Not so tough now, are you Forbidden Child?"

Hiei felt himself being crushed as 3's ki continued to push together all around him.

"Just give in and let me crush you. There's no where for you to go. I'm completely surrounding you." The shadow demon gave another sinister chuckle.

It felt chlostrophic. Pain invaded the koorime's body as the other demon's youki seeped into the already present cuts. The stinging sensation elicited a growl out of the victim.

Watching Hiei's struggle turned 3's chuckle into a mocking laugh. He stopped, however, when he heard a laugh come from other demon.

"You fool," Hiei snickered, "you're as dumb as you look."

"What!"

"This works both ways. If I cannot get out, then you cannot get away."

There was no reply as the shorter demon began powering up for an attack. 3 could feel the energy gathering. In an attempt to stop him, the DA tried compressing him with more of his youki.

It was no use. Hiei was too strong for him.

"FISTS OF THE MORTAL FLAME!"

Number 3 screeched as the attack pounded him from inside. Hiei could feel the evil aura let up some before he was hurled out of the damp pit and back on to the arena floor, landing on his feet. The stadium watched as the black puddle turned into a cloud of black smoke, still roaring in pain.

"This isn't over yet!" 3 sneered before disappearing all together.

Koto watched in bewilderment as the scene played out before her. "Now where'd he go?"

Hiei gave the girl a fleeting look before giving a 'hn' in response and proceeding to walk off the stage.

"Does that mean you're done?" she said aloud to herself.

"He's dead," called the Dark Assailant's leader. "This match goes to the fire demon."

Shrugging, she announced it to the viewers. "And the winner is Hiei for the Urameshi team!"

The crowd roar, some in disapproval and some not.

The proclaimed winner rejoined his team mates on the side.

"You had us scared there for a second when you disappeared," Yusuke joked, trying lighten his spirits after the intense fight.

His friend gave the smallest of amused smiles, "Really? Because I was under the impression that nothing scared 'The Great Urameshi.'"

The earlier only laughed.

After taking a spot next to Kurama, he was surprised to hear the only female fighter in their group praise him on his battle. He was almost certain that she'd still been upset with him, but it would seem otherwise.

The next set of fighters was called to the stage. Kurama seemed to have taken it upon himself to select the next fighter - himself. The fox demon was paired against the tallest member of the DA team. Koto was quick to get the second match underway.


	30. DA vs Urameshi Team: Round II

Kurama's focus was only on the target at hand. His opponent looked exactly like the one Hiei had disposed of, if not a tad bit shorter. He was curious to know if their physical appearance would be similar as well.

This time Koto was prepared, having requested the shadow demon's name before hand. "Paired off in the second round of the finals will be Kurama for the Urameshi team and Number 4 for the Dark Assailants." The crowd roar in approval as the signal to fight was given, "Begin!"

_Number 4...I wonder if that is a rank of some sort_. If that was the case, then there was a good chance this match wouldn't give him too much difficulty.

"You certainly don't look like a thief."

Great, he'd snagged the judgmental fighter of the group. His voice sounded as if it belonged to an arrogant, rich boy who had had no self-discipline. Luckily, Kurama would be more than willing to teach him.

Putting on the most threatening look he could muster at the moment, he answered with a reserved calm. "Looks can be deceiving."

"Indeed, they can be." He was cocky too.

Kurama took a slow intake of breath and exhaled it with unnoticeable ease. He shouldn't be getting so riled up before a fight.

"Especially that little she-devil over there. She's _quite_ deceiving."

Number 4 didn't need to motion to her for him to know who the cloaked figure was talking about.

"This battle is between the two of us, not her."

"The battle may be ours, but the war is _her's_. And it _always_ will be."

If he wasn't mistaken, it would almost sound as if the shadow demon were...irritated? Annoyed? Either way, it didn't sound as if he approved of the idea.

"But I guess we can't get to that until I hurry up and rid myself of you're presence."

_We?_

Number 4 reached behind him to his back and withdrew a rather large sword. From his standing point, the blade looked about a meter and a half long with 25 x 2 cm thickness. The object looked to be heavy too, but the fighter didn't seem to be having any difficulty wielding it with one hand. He'd have to wait and see if his estimate held true.

Kurama retrieved the rose from his hair, quickly transforming it into the deadly rosewhip. Although his stance might not have shown it, he was on high alert and ready to do damage.

His opponent appeared to be eager to just get it done with and charged head-on. Kurama was easily able to jump out of the way, back flipping and landing a few feet away. He charged with his own assault as Number 4 was still in motion from his unsuccessful attack. Giving his wrist a few flicks, the whip gained momentum allowing its demon wielder to deliver several accurate strikes. The shadow demon took hold of his weapon with two hands, ultimately deflecting the potentially lethal blows.

Kurama watched as the blade continued to stay in tact. While the man acted as if he weren't, he was well trained and dodged his onslaught with fierce ardor.

Suddenly, the fox found himself open to attack as his rosewhip had been cut through. Quickly Kurama ducked to the side, cart wheeling out the way. He landed crouched on one knee, a fresh rose ready in his hand.

Number 4 took the short break as an opportunity to pull his hood back and discard himself of the heavy cloak. Like he'd presumed, the black markings on his face were identical to that of Number 3's.

The newly revealed Dark Assailant nodded towards the other demon's shoulder. "Not quite as fast as the little man, are you?"

Kurama looked at his left shoulder. He brushed his fingers over the wet spot on his sleeve to closer inspect the injury, finding it only to be a long scratch. His attacker had drawn first blood.

Number 4 held his sword out in front of him, the blade level with his eye. Bringing it closer for better inspection he ran his thumb over the edge, testing its sharpness. His eyes averted back to Kurama as if trying to measure him up. "Congratulations. You're the first to ever dull my blade."

He sighed and held the blade back out in front of him. "No matter, it will cut through you're skin regardless."

Taking position, 4 lunged at him again. Kurama took the defensive until he could form some sort of attack plan. He eluded a swing at his neck, only to come back up and be decked in the jaw with his elbow. Using what speed he had, Kurama jumped from place to place, dodging his adversary. As time wore on, the attacks became more intense, and the fox demon spent more time avoiding the after shocks of each attack the coming up with an offense.

Finally, he stopped. Straightening himself, he dusted off his clothes and flipped a lock of stray hair back over his shoulder. Calmly, he waited for his opposer's next move.

"Finally done running?"

The red-head gave his shoulder's a small shrug, "It's not my fault you continued to miss me."

"Why don't you try chasing me around a bit and see if you do any better."

"I already have."

As soon as the words left his mouth, vines and roots sprouted from the arena floor, wrapping around the limbs and joints of the shadow demon. Number 4 was forced to his knees as his attempts to break free became futile.

"How..." he choked out, the vine around his throat tightening.

"While you were busy trying to hit me, I was scattering my seeds around. And although they were quite visible on the floor, you were too consumed in your endeavor to realize this."

"Well played...but there was just one thing you left out."

As if on cue, a large puffy cloud passed beneath the sun, illuminating a portion of the arena in shadow, and with it, Kurama's victim. His plants tried to feel out the object that they had seconds ago trapped. Their controller, after a momentary lapse of shock, now scanned the area, seeking his opponent. The shadow cast by the cloud now hung over him. Too late he sensed the demon beneath him as it morphed back into its original shape. Metal met skin as Number 4's blade came slicing down Kurama's back in a diagonal motion.

The fox made impact with the hard concrete below him, his head recoiling upon impact. Kurama made an effort to get up until a foot came crashing down on his newly made wound, pushing him into the arena floor below. A cry fought to escape as 4's heel welded its way between the skin and in the cut.

Kurama prepared himself to stab the bastard in the leg with the hidden weapon Kyra had given him earlier when it dawned on him that he couldn't move. His wrists, ankles and neck were being held down by some sort of restraint. With his right cheek being forced against the stone, he could only look at his left wrist to try and determine what it was exactly that was holding him down. Its aura was weak, concealed - _different_ than the demon above him. Then it dawned on him...

They were still in shadow...

The cloud never moved out from under the sun...

Number 4 took his foot off his back and crouched low so the contained demon could make eye contact with him.

"Kurama, I'd like you to meet my friends; Number's 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11."

"What happened to 9 and 10," Kurama growled out in mock humor.

"You're bitch happened to them, that's what."

"Don't call her a bitch." His eyes flashed a dangerous gold.

The shadow demon removed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from his pocket. Lighting one, he blew a puff of smoke in the other demon's face. "This is exactly why I can't kill you."

Somewhere in the background, he heard Koto start the count down.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm under strict orders to let you live, but make sure you lose. I really was expecting a longer fight than this. You've disappointed me."

Kurama glared at the man as he took another drag on his cigarette.

"You see, my boss wants to see the look on your face when he takes her away from you. Apparently, you, are his greatest competition when it comes to her."

He exhaled another cloud of toxic chemicals.

"I don't know what you two see in her, but it must be real special for you to go through all this trouble."

Kurama clenched his fists in reprimand anger. The echo of six rang in his ears as Koto continued to count.

"Of course, the look on your face right now might just be worth it." He pulled the half used cigarette filter out of his mouth and looked at it. "These human drugs are disgusting. What ever possessed you to create them?" The bud of his cigarette burned in to the back of captive demon's hand, searing the skin.

Kurama's reserve snapped as the hand 4 had been conveniently using as an ash tray broke free and slashed him in the knee. At that same exact moment, the vines closest by launched at him, spearing him from behind. The fox observed with satisfaction as the pale man cried out, only to later see his vines melt away.

As for the Dark Assailant, he'd jumped away, but not before having his kneecap thoroughly cut through. The holes in his chest oozed dark liquid into his shirt, which was resistant to his own blood. Acidic fluid ran down his leg, pooling on the ground beneath his right foot. Steam rose from the melting arena floor.

"A hidden weapon?" he hissed. The small blade connected to a large cuff on his forearm that whipped out for emergencies.

"Courtesy of the bitch." Kurama's voice had gone an octave lower - the sound of his inner fox.

"10! Number 4 wins the second match!"

The Dark Assailant stood with difficulty. "You should be glad she counted so fast, or I would've killed you, orders or not."

Kurama watched him until he left his line of sight. The other demons holding him down quickly let go as the cloud finally continued on its path.

Struggling to get up, _Youko _saw the last retreating form of the shadow demon before it disappeared from the stage.

Silently, he made a promise to get revenge. His attention was brought back to the weapon on his wrist beginning to melt away. He detached it and threw to the ground. It was only good for one time anyways.

Stumbling somewhat to the edge of the stage, he was greeted by friends, dismissing the offer of assistance. His pride had taken a blow, having lost for the second time in row in the finals. Kyra and Yusuke walked with Kurama back to the other two.

Hiei's crimson eyes locked with emerald. The fire demon would never speak his concern aloud, no matter how serious the issue.

"Don't worry," was the fox's answer, occupying the spot next to his friend.

"Kurama?"

The red-head turned to acknowledge the worried female on his other side.

"How's you're spine?"

"Fine. The cut isn't that deep."

"Do you feel like you're losing too much blood?"

He shook his head.

Kyra could tell he was upset. Resisting the urge to reach out and touch him was a lot harder than she first thought it to be. Trying to distract herself from the temptation she continued to question him. "What did he say to you?"

At her words his demeanor became colder. "Only things he'll come to regret."

Kurama was taking this moment to reflect. Perhaps he had it backwards with the numbers? How many Dark Assailants were here anyways? And what was with these short matches? It was nothing like last time. First Hiei opponent barely puts up a fight, and mine cheats. What the hell could they be planning?

* * *

A/N: This one is out sooner than normal. I really liked how it turned out. It may be short, but it fits the scenario of the finals. You'll learn more about that later.

Anyways, I was thinking that once I finish with the tournament, I'm going to go back and do some editing. I'll fix any plot holes and typos. But for my devoted fans, you won't have to go back and read it all. I'll make a list of changes and put them somewhere in the author note. Thanks for reading.

Katroom


	31. AN

Author's Note

Ok, so I know I said before I was going to finish the tournament and then start rewriting, but I can't. You see, I've gone back and re-read some of my story and realized there are a LOT of plot holes and parts that just don't make sense. Plus, I rushed the story at some points and it's way out of order. So, in light of this new predicament, editing is going to start over. I think I'll delete the story and post up the new chapters as a new story.

Thanks for all your patience,

Katroom

P.S. I know I said I would just make a list of things I changed so people wouldn't have to go back and re-read the whole thing, but from what I've already started, I think it'd be best if you did. I really feel like a jerk for putting this story on hold, but I hope it'll work out for the best.

Thanks again.


End file.
